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ADDRESSES  AND  DISC^ 


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liDUCATIOM  OF  THE 


^ 


NATIONAL  EDUCATIONAL  ASSOCIATION. 


PROCEEDINGS  OF  MEETING 


HELD    IN    THE 


Senate  Chamber,  Madison.  Wis.,  Wednesday,  July  1 6th,  1884, 


TO    CONSIDER    THE    SUBJECT    OF 


DEAF-MUTE  INSTRUCTION 


IN    RELATION    TO 


THE  WOHK  OF  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 


*   OF  THE 

ivbesity; 

WASHINGTON  : 

GIBSON    BROS..    PRINTERS    AM)    BOOKBINDERS. 

i  8  S  5  . 


*<* 


5~l  3  3 


I 


CONTENTS 


Page. 

Opening  address  by  President  Bicknell, 3 

Paper  1.  Aural  Instruction  of  the  Deaf,  by  Prof.  J.  A.  Gillespie,    .  4 
Paper  2.  Deaf -Mute  Instruction  in  Relation  to  the  Work  of  the  Pub- 
lic Schools,  by  Prof.  Alexander  Graham  Bell,   ....  8 
Paper  3.  Historical  Experiments  in  Associated  Education,  by  Prof.  J. 

C.  Gordon, 22 

DISCUSSION. 

Bell,  Dr.  A.  Graham, 59,  65 

Binner,  Mr.  Paul, 50 

Gallaudet,  Dr.  E.  M., 41,44,64 

Gallaudet,  Dr.  Thomas, 43 

Gillett,  Dr.  Philip  G., 42,55 

Noyes,  Dr.  J.  L. , 50 

Page,  Mr., 58 

Parker,  Mrs., 52 

Spencer,  Mr.  R.  C, 53 

Swiler,  Prof.  J.  W., 64 

Williams,  Prof.  Job,    ..........     62 


JE^L^ 


V  OF  THR  ^  $S* 

nVBRSIT 

NATIONAL   RIHXATIOXAL   ASSOCIATION. 


PROCEEDINGS    OF    MEETING 

HELD  IN  THE    SENATE   CHAMBER,  MADISON,  WIS.,  WEDNESDAY,  JULY   16th, 
1884,  TO  CONSIDER  THE  SUBJECT  OF 

Deaf-Mute  Instruction  in  relation  to  the  Work  of  the  Public  Schools. 


The  meeting  was  called  to  order  on  Wednesday,  July  16th, 
1884,  at  2. BO  P.  M.,  in  the  Senate  Chamber  of  the  Capitol  at 
Madison,  Wisconsin,  T.  W.  Bicknell,  President  of  the  National 
Educational  Association,  presiding. 

The  President.  When  I  was  in  Madison  in  September  last  I 
met  Professor  Spencer,  of  Milwaukee,  who  has  a  deep  and  an 
abiding  interest  in  the  education  of  deaf-mutes.  He  asked  me 
if  arrangements  could  be  made  for  holding  a  meeting  in  the  in- 
terests of  this  important  department  of  our  educational  work. 
I  replied  that  it  would  give  me  great  pleasure  to  afford  all  the 
aid  and  facilities  at  my  command  for  such  a  gathering  of  deaf- 
mute  instructors,  pupils,  and  their  friends  as  might  wish  to 
gather  and  discuss  the  interesting  questions  growing  out  of 
their  work.  I  found  a  deeper  interest  in  the  matter,  from  my 
correspondence,  than  I  at  first  supposed  existed,  and  have  made 
the  announcement  in  our  program  that  Professor  Bell  and  others 
would  read  papers  and  have  invited  to  the  conference  all  inter- 
ested in  deaf-mute  instruction.  I  esteem  it  an  honor  as  well  as 
a  pleasure  to  welcome  this  large  audience  this  afternoon  to  the 
privileges  offered  us  in  the  Senate  Chamber  of  the  Capitol,  in 
the  midst  of  the  circle  of  meetings  now  in  session  in  this  beau- 
tiful city,  and  surrounded  by  so  many  of  the  arts  and  appliances 
of  modern  educational  progress. 

Although  the  records  of  the  instruction  of  deaf-mutes  are 
ancient,  dating  back  twelve  hundred  years,  to  the  time  of  the 
venerable  Bede  in  England,  yet  it  is  only  within  the  present 
century,  and  within  the  memory  of  men  now  living  and  engaged 
in  active  service,  that  the  most  important  advancement  has  been 
made.  I  have  read  of  the  early  struggles,  trials,  and  triumphs 
in  educating  those  from  whom  it  was  at  first  supposed  Nature 
or  Fate  had  shut  out  the  entrance  of  knowledge  and  the  bless- 
ings of  education,  and  have  noted  with  interest  the  slowr  but 


steady  progress  of  the  movement  in  England,  France,  Germany, 
and  America,  till  in  the  wonderful  successes  of  our  day  the 
very  deaf  are  made  to  hear  and  the  dumb  to  speak ! 

Let  me  congratulate  you,  fellow-workers,  on  the  noble  part 
America  has  borne  in  this  grand  and  praiseworthy  result.  The 
names  of  Gallaudet  of  Hartford,  Howe  of  Boston,  Gallaudet 
and  Bell  of  Washington,  are  cherished  deeply  in  the  thought 
and  in  the  speech  of  all  who  have  a  heart  to  appreciate  their 
great  philanthropy,  and  the  younger  men  of  this  generation  are 
almost  working  miracles  in  behalf  of  the  scientific  development 
of  the  senses,  even  when  apparently  without  even  germinal, 
life-accepting  power. 

During  the  present  sessions  we  shall  expect  to  hear  from 
Prof.  Gillespie,  of  Nebraska,  who,  in  the  institution  for  the  deaf 
and  dumb  in  that  State,  has  made  some  experiments  in  aural 
instruction  which  have  attracted  the  attention  of  the  world. 
Prof.  Alexander  Graham  Bell  will,  I  have  no  doubt,  from  a  bril- 
liant mind  and  a  successful  experience,  show  us  most  conclu- 
sively that  speaking  and  non-speaking  children  should  not  be 
separated  in  their  early  and  later  instruction,  while  all  will  bear 
grateful  testimony  to  the  self-denying  services  of  the  hundreds 
of  teachers  who  are  now,  in  all  of  our  cities  and  States,  laboring 
to  develop  into  useful,  happy,  self-supporting  manhood  and 
womanhood  the  thousands  of  children  whose  misfortunes  have 
made  them  the  objects  of  tender  est  love  and  care. 

Let  me  suggest,  in  closing,  that  I  feel  that  your  work  is  so 
nearly  allied  to  that  of  all  other  education  that  you  may  right- 
fully claim  a  department  in  connection  with  the  National  Asso- 
ciation, and  I  trust  that  you  may  be  led  to  knock  at  the  door 
of  our  Directory  for  admission  at  an  early  day.  I  have  now  the 
great  pleasure  of  introducing  Prof.  J.  A.  Gillespie,  of  Nebraska, 
as  the  first  speaker  of  this  occasion. 

I.— AURAL  INSTRUCTION  OF  THE  DEAF. 

BY   J.  A.    GILLESPIE. 

That  a  large  percentage  of  our  deaf  and  dumb  pupils,  so- 
called,  have  partial  hearing  is  a  fact  well  understood.  To  prove 
that  this  partial  hearing,  dormant  as  it  is,  can  be  developed, 
cultivated,  and  used  in  the  education  of  this  .class  is  the  object 
of  this  paper,  and  in  it  I  shall  give  a  condensed  history  of  .my 
experiments  in  this  direction,  and  the  conclusions  deduced. 

From  my  earliest  connection  with  deaf-mute  instruction  it 
has  been  a  favorite  theory  with  me  that  this  latent  sense  might 
be  developed  and  so  utilized.  On  the  introduction  of  the  audi- 
phone  as  an  aid  to  hearing  I  secured  a  number  of  these  instru- 
ments, selected  a  class,  consisting  mostly  of  grown  pupils,  of 
those  having  partial  hearing,  and  drilled  it  daily  from  half  an 
hour  to  an  hour  at  a  time  for  a  period  of  three  months,  begin- 
ning with  single  vowel  sounds  made  in  a  loud  tone  of  voice. 

At  the  expiration  of  that  time  these  pupils  were  able  to  rec- 


ognize  a  large  number  of  sounds,  words,  and  sentences  across 
the  room,  and  often  standing  in  the  hall  and  leaving  the  door 
ajar  I  could  speak  sentences  which  they  would  recognize  and 
repeat. 

These  children  did  not  recognize  sounds  as  such  at  the  be- 
ginning of  this  drill.  What  they  did  hear  were  noises  wholly 
unintelligible. 

The  hearing  which  they  possessed,  but  which  had  been  in  a 
dormant  state  up  to  this  time,  became  active  by  this  training, 
and  they  were  conscious  of  a  new  sense  or  partial  sense  of 
which  they  were  not  cognizant  as  being  useful  to  them. 

This  experiment  satisfied  me  that  in  the  case  of  these  chil- 
dren the  hearing  could  be  developed,  or,  at  all  events,  training 
would  enable  them  to  use  what  they  had. 

The  next  class  was  made  up  of  the  smaller  semi-deaf  children. 
This  was  also  an  experimental  class,  its  object  being  to  demon- 
strate whether  or  not  the  same  course  of  training  would  pro- 
duce similar  results  in  small  children  as  were  secured  from 
those  of  more  mature  age. 

The  progress  of  this  class  was  even  more  rapid  than  that  of 
the  former.  During  the  progress  of  these  experiments  this 
class  was  brought  before  the  piano,  and  by  daily  practice  the 
children  learned  to  keep  step  to  music,  and  this  was  no  small 
item  in  determining  the  value  of  the  experiment. 

These  two  classes  represented  nearly  every  condition  of  pupil 
which  we  had  or  would  likely  have,  as  to  age,  cause  of  deafness, 
degree  of  deafness,  intellectual  ability,  etc. 

The  results  thus  obtained  I  accepted  as  proof  that  this  dor- 
mant partial  sense  could  be  aroused,  developed,  and  utilized  in 
the  education  of  the  semi-deaf  children. 

With  this  idea  in  view  a  class  was  formed.  The  method  of 
instruction  was  the  same  as  in  the  experimental  work,  above 
described,  carried  out  more  fully. 

The  manual  alphabet  and  sign-language  were  not  used,  except 
in  rare  cases.  Instruction  was  given  orally.  Object  lessons, 
pictures,  action  work,  dictation  exercises,  and  such  methods  as 
are  practised  in  our  common  schools  were  used. 

At  the  close  of  the  school  year  these  children  had  accom- 
plished all  that  could  be  expected  of  any  class  of  equal  ability, 
taught  by  the  usual  methods  of  our  institutions. 

They  had  a  vocabulary  of  two  hundred  to  five  hundred  words 
which  they  could  recognize  by  the  hearing  and  could  speak  and 
use  in  composition  readily. 

Last  fall  another  class  was  added  to  this  department.  Those 
in  the  school,  from  the  highest  class  down  to  those  who  had 
been  in  but  two  years,  who  had  some  hearing,  were  taken  qut 
of  their  respective  grades  and  started  at  the  foot  of  the  ladder 
by  the  aural  system.  The  plan  pursued  was  the  same  as  in  each 
of  the  other  cases.  At  the  end  of  the  school  year  this  class  had 
a  vocabulary  of  five  hundred  to  eight  hundred  words. 


In  order  to  test  the  accuracy  of  the  hearing  the  following 
experiment  was  made : 

Two  of  the  best  pupils  were  selected  and  a  list  of  six  hun- 
dred and  nineteen  words  pronounced  in  a  clear,  distinct  voice, 
louder  than  a  conversational  tone.  The  pupils  sat  with  their 
backs  to  the  teacher.  Of  this  list  one  boy  wrote,  at  first  trial, 
six  hundred  and  three  words,  the  other  five  hundred  and  ninety- 
three. 

The  question  was  asked  if  these  same  boys  could  recognize 
such  non-voiced  consonant  sounds  as  s,  f,  t,  p,  sh,  etc. 

To  answer  the  query  correctly  a  test  was  made.  A  list  of 
eight  of  such  sounds  was  prepared,  and  the  list  repeated,  thus 
making  sixteen  sounds  in  all.  Of  these  one  boy  made  three 
errors  and  the  other  four. 

The  result  of  this  test  was  a  complete  surprise  to  me,  as  I 
had  not  supposed  that  they  would  recognize  those  sounds  so 
readily  when  not  in  combination. 

As  an  examination  exercise  for  this  class,  twenty  words, 
twenty  statements,  and  twenty  questions  were  selected  at  ran- 
dom from  the  lists  covering  the  ground  gone  over  during  the 
year.  On  this  exercise,  the  three  pupils  who  have  made  the 
most  rapid  progress,  aurally  speaking,  had  perfect  marks,  with 
one  exception,  it  being  10 — . 

These  results  demonstrate  clearly  to  my  mind  that  this  class 
of  children  can  be  taught  to  hear,  and  that  their  education  can 
be  carried  on  by  this  means. 

As  to  what  takes  place  in  a  scientific  point  of  view,  whether 
the  nerve  of  hearing  develops  as  a  muscle  develops  by  use,  or 
whether  this  is  an  education  of  the  brain  to  perceive  sounds, 
heard  but  not  understood,  or  both,  is  a  question  for  the  future 
to  decide,  and  which  I  will  not  here  discuss. 

This  much  I  will  say,  however,  that  this  sense  of  hearing 
which  has  lain  dormant  and  useless  up  to  this  time  is  now  suffi- 
ciently developed  to  be  of  great  benefit  to  these  children,  and 
no  one  is  more  conscious  of  it  than  they  themselves.  They 
know  that  heretofore  they  heard  not,  and  that  now  they  do 
hear. 

They  know  that  it  has  not  been  done  miraculously,  but  that 
it  has  been  brought  about  by  patient,  hard  work  on  the  part  of 
their  teachers  and  themselves. 

The  test  question  which  we  apply  to  all  statements,  "  Is  it  an 
opin ion  or  is  it  a  fact?'"1  we  surely  may  ask  concerning  this. 
"Facts  are  God's  arguments."  We,  as  earnest  seekers  after 
truth,  should  endeavor  to  "Prove  all  things  and  hold  fast  to 
that  which  is  good." 

My  experience  and  observations  in  reference  to  this  question 
led  me  to  this  opinion,  that  a  large  majority  of  this  class  can 
be  graduated  from  our  schools  as  hard-of-hearing  speaking 
people,  instead  of  as  deaf-mutes,  and  that  it  is  our  duty  so  to 
graduate  them.  By  this  I  do  not  mean  an  exceptional  case 
here  and  there,  but  as  a  class. 


The  class  of  hard-of-hearing  speaking  people  in  society  is 
large,  but  a  hard-of-hearing  speaking  child,  or  one  using  an 
artificial  aid  to  hearing,  is  a  rare  sight. 

The  reason  for  this  may  be  found  in  this  fact :  the  hard-of- 
hearing  child  became  so  before  he  learned  speech;  the  other 
learned  speech  before  he  became  hard  of  hearing. 

The  child  is  too  deaf  to  be  educated  in  the  public  schools  by 
the  ordinary  methods  He  is  reported  as  a  deaf-mute  and  sent 
to  an  institution  for  the  deaf  and  dumb,  educated  and  grad- 
uated as  a  deaf-mute.  He  goes  through  life  deaf  and  dumb, 
while  his  elder  brother  is  in  no  way  different  from  the  great 
mass  of  the  people,  other  than  that  he  is  hard  of  hearing,  and 
yet  the  former  may  have  a  greater  per  cent,  of  hearing  than 
the  latter. 

Manifestly  this  is  an  error.  t 

What  is  the  remedy  1 

My  opinion  is  that  the  remedy  is  found  in  what  I  have  termed 
the  Aural  system.  By  it  this  class  can  be  taught  to  hear  and 
receive  instruction  through  this  medium,  and  eventually  be 
placed  upon  an  equal  footing  with  the  hard-of-hearing  class. 

As  to  the  number  that  can  be  benefited  by  this  system,  I 
have  no  doubt  but  that  fifteen  per  cent,  of  those  now  in  our 
deaf-mute  schools  can  be  thus  aided. 

More  than  this  proportion  receive  aural  drill  in  our  school, 
and  fully  this  number  are  benefited. 

The  question  has  arisen  as  to  what  amount  of  hearing  a  pu- 
pil should  have  to  be  a  fit  subject  for  this  instruction  f 

In  answer  to  this,  I  would  say  that  my  belief  is  that  no  test 
can  be  found  by  which  this  can  be  determined.  At  no  point  can 
a  line  of  demarcation  be  drawn,  and  all  upon  this  side  be  edu- 
cated by  this  system  and  all  upon  that  side  by  that  system.  A 
trial  of  each  individual  case,  where  any  hearing  exists,  will  de- 
termine the  matter  for  him,  and  this  I  believe  to  be  the  only 
true  test. 

If  the  number  who  can  be  benefited  by  this  method  of  in- 
struction be  found  as  great  as  I  have  suggested,  the  question 
assumes  vast  proportions,  and  should  have  the  immediate  at- 
tention of  all  those  laboring  for  the  education  of  this  unfortu- 
nate class  of  our  people. 

These  semi-deaf  children  are  in  our  schools  for  the  deaf  and 
our  public  schools  to-day. 

In  the  former  the  development  of  the  hearing  suffers  for 
the  reason  that  the  methods  pursued  are  adapted  to  the  in- 
struction of  the  totally  deaf  rather  than  the  partially  deaf.  In 
the  latter  their  education  suffers  because  of  the  difficulties  in 
the  way  of  the  individual  work  required,  of  the  special  qualifi- 
cations for  such  instruction,  and  because  of  the  lack  of  time  on 
the  part  of  the  public- school  teacher. 

These  children  do  not  hear  enough  to  be  educated  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  ;  they  have  too  much  to  be  lost  by  being  instructed 
with  those  who  have  none. 


8 

We  must  recognize  a  new  subdivision  of  the  so-called  deaf 
and  dumb. 

We  should  have  schools  intermediate  between  the  public 
schools  and  schools  for  the  deaf  for  this  class. 

I  most  earnestly  favor  aural  departments  or  branches  in  con- 
nection with  our  institutions  now  in  existence.  I  do  not  rec- 
ommend that  this  work  be  carried  on  as  an  accomplishment : 
that  instruction  be  given  by  signs  or  lip-reading,  but  that  from 
the  beginning  it  be  made  the  method  of  instruction ;  that  com- 
munication between  teacher  and  pupil,  and  among  the  pupils 
as  far  as  possible,  be  aural  and  oral. 

Lest  the  public  mind  should  be  misled  on  this  question,  I 
wish  to  emphasize  the  statement  that  no  claim  is  made  to  re- 
store hearing,  neither  to  supply  it  where  none  exists,  but  simply 
to  develop  and  use  this  dormant  sense. 

I  would  suggest  also  that  in  the  use  of  artificial  aids  to  hear- 
ing that  great  care  be  taken,  lest,  by  an  injudicious  effort,  in- 
jury be  done  those  delicate  and  sensitive  parts  affected. 

1  have  no  fault  to  find  with  those  of  the  profession  who 
regard  the  sign  and  manual  system  as  the  best,  nor  with  those 
who  consider  the  articulation  system  as  the  only  one  to  be  tol- 
erated. 

The  signs  of  the  times  indicate  that  we  are  more  ready  to 
yield  somewhat  from  our  former  views  on  both  sides.  We  are 
all  more  ready  to  concede  that  there  is  something  to  commend 
on  the  opposite  side  from  which  we  stand.  We  are  getting 
closer  together. 

Whatever  may  be  our  preference,  and  whatever  we  can  use 
to  the  best  advantage,  let  us  use.  Let  us  make  all  contribute 
to  the  aural  system,  by  which  the  semi-deaf  shall  be  taught  to 
hear. 

Dr.  A.  Graham  Bell,  of  Washington,  was  then  introduced  and 
read  the  following  paper : 

II.— DEAF-MUTE   INSTEUCTION   IN   KELATION  TO 
THE  WORK  OF  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS. 

BY  ALEXANDER  GRAHAM  BELL. 

I  cannot  express  the  pleasure  it  gives  me  to  address  this  large 
audience  composed  of  public-school  teachers  from  all  parts  of 
the  United  States.  I  feel  that  you  are  a  power  in  the  land,  and 
that  the  thoughts  and  impulses  that  emanate  from  this  assem- 
bly will  be  felt  in  every  portion  of  this  great  country.  I  am  im- 
pressed with  the  nobleness  and  importance  of  your  work.  The 
education  of  the  people  of  the  United  States  has  been  entrusted 
to  your  hands.  The  safety  of  the  Republic  depends  upon  the 
education  of  the  masses ;  and  the  education  of  the  masses  de- 
pends upon  your  labors.  You  have  done  much,  but  much  more 
remains  to  be  done. 

The  census  of  1880  shows  us  that  we  have  in  our  midst  several 


9 

millions  of  illiterate  adults,  and  thousands  of  others  come  from 
the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic  to  increase  the  number.  Even  in 
the  case  of  the  well  informed,  the  vast  majority  of  our  immi- 
grants are  unfamiliar  with  republican  forms  of  government,  and 
untrained  in  the  distinction  between  liberty  and  license.  It  is 
to  the  teacher  we  look  to  cope  with  the  vast  influx  of  foreign 
population ;  so  vast  that  it  would  speedily  swamp  the  country 
and  destroy  our  glorious  republican  institutions  but  for  that 
great  panacea,  ''Education." 

Our  population  is  recruited  from  all  the  countries  of  the 
world,  and  from  this  source  another  danger  threatens  the  Re- 
public. It  is  important  for  the  preservation  of  our  national 
existence  that  the  people  of  this  country  should  speak  one 
tongue.  With  Germans  and  French  and  Italians,  with  Swedes, 
Norwegians,  and  Danes,  with  Prussians,  Spaniards,  and  Chi- 
nese, settling  in  countless  numbers  in  our  midst,  how  are  we 
to  conserve  the  English  tongue  ?  Already,  in  Pennsylvania, 
a  new  language  has  arisen,  born  of  the  union  of  German  and 
English ;  a  language  spoken  by  thousands  and  having  a  litera- 
ture of  its  own — the  Pennsylvania  Dutch.  Already  we  can  dis- 
tinguish by  dialectic  peculiarities  of  speech  the  Southerner  from 
the  Northerner  and  the  Western  man  from  the  Eastern.  How 
are  we  to  preserve  the  purity  of  the  English  tongue?  We  look 
to  the  teachers  of  our  public  schools ;  they  must  study  and  teach 
subjects  to  which  hitherto  but  little  attention  has  been  paid. 
If  we  are  to  avoid  the  formation  of  distinct  dialects  and  lan- 
guages on  this  continent  they  must  study  and  teach  the  mech- 
anism of  speech.  They  must  teach  speech  to  the  pupils  of  our 
public  schools.  They  must  explain  to  their  pupils  the  posi- 
tions of  the  vocal  organs  in  uttering  English  sounds. 

Most  people  fail  to  realize  that  speech  is  acquired  by  instruc- 
tion and  education.  Most  people  fail  to  think  about  the  subject 
at  all.  We  observe  that  at  a  certain  age  a  child  begins  to  speak, 
and  that  at  another  age  he  begins  to  cut  his  teeth,  and  in  both 
cases  it  appears  to  most  people  that  the  result  is  due  to  the  opera- 
ation  of  natural  causes.  We  observe  that  the  children  of  British 
or  American  parents  speak  the  English  tongue,  and  that  the 
children  of  Italians  and  Germans  naturally  acquire  the  German  or 
Italian  languages,  and  many  people  have  the  idea  that  the  chil- 
dren acquire  by  inherit mce  the  pronunciation  of  their  parents. 

The  fact  is  that  we  acquire  speech  by  imitating  the  utter- 
ances of  those  around  us.  An  American  child  with  an  exclu- 
sively German  environment  acquires  the  German  language  as 
naturally  as  he  would  have  acquired  the  English  tongue  had  he 
been  educated  in  our  land.  The  fallacy  is  so  strongly  impressed 
upon  the  people  that  we  grow  into  speech,  that  speech  is  a 
natural  product  of  the  vocal  organs  produced  without  instruc- 
tion or  education,  as  to  lead  to  the  idea  that  where  speech  is 
defective  or  wanting  the  defect  is  due  to  malformation  of  the 
vocal  organs  or  to  disease.     Defects  of  speech  are  spoken  of  as 


10 

though  they  were  diseases,  to  be  "  cured  "  by  the  art  of  a  physi- 
cian or  surgeon.  It  is  not  so  very  long  ago  that  slices  were  cut 
from  the  tongue  of  a  stammerer  in  the  vain  hope  of  curing 
what  was  after  all  but  a  bad  habit  of  speech.  I  have  myself 
known  of  cases  where  the  uvula  and  tonsils  have  been  need- 
lessly excised  to  correct  the  same  defect. 

If  parents  realized  that  defects  of  speech  often  arise  from  igno- 
rance of  the  actions  of  the  vocal  organs,  and  do  not  necessarily 
indicate  a  defect  of  the  mouth,  they  would  have  their  children 
taught  the  use  of  the  vocal  organs  by  specially  skilled  articula- 
tion teachers.  If  you  teachers  of  the  public  schools  were  to 
study  the  mechanism  of  speech  you  could  not  only  preserve  the 
purity  of  the  English  tongue  by  suitable  instruction  to  the  chil- 
dren of  our  foreign  immigrants,  but  could  nip  defective  speech 
in  the  bud  by  explaining  to  your  pupils  the  correct  actions  of 
the  vocal  organs  and  by  drilling  them  in  the  correct  pronuncia- 
tion of  the  English  language.  Defects  of  speech  that  arise  from 
malformations  of  the  vocal  organs  (like  cleft-palate)  are  compara- 
tively rare,  and  even  in  such  cases  the  speech  can  be  improved 
by  suitable  instruction  after  the  malformation  has  been  corrected 
by  the  art  of  the  surgeon  or  after  the  introduction  of  an  artificial 
palate.  The  great  majority  of  the  defects  of  speech  are  associated 
with  perfect  vocal  organs  and  arise  from  ignorance  of  the  mecha- 
nism of  speech. 

DEFECTIVE   SPEECH. 

In  the  absence  of  special  instruction  we  learn  to  speak  by 
perceiving  and  imitating  the  sounds  we  hear  ;  hence  defective 
speech  naturally  arises,  (1,)  from  defective  perceptive  faculties ; 
(2,)  from  defective  imitative  powers,  and,  (3,)  from  defective 
hearing. 

1.  Backward  children  and  feeble-minded  children  speak  im- 
perfectly and  idiots  do  not  speak  at  all.  In  the  case  of  feeble- 
minded or  backward  children  the  speech  is  improved  by  the 
cultivation  of  the  perceptive  faculties,  and  by  the  presentation 
of  single  words  and  elementary  sounds  for  the  child  to  imitate. 

2.  The  baby- talk  of  lisping  childhood  results  from  imperfect 
imitation,  and  is  naturally  overcome,  in  process  of  time,  by 
practice  after  a  good  model.  The  common  habit  of  parents  and 
nurses  iu  using  baby-talk  when  they  speak  to  their  children  is 
a  frequent  cause  of  defective  speech  in  adult  life.  Parents, 
then,  should  be  careful  that  their  children  are  surrounded  by 
persons  who  speak  perfectly  and  well.  Stammering  and  other 
defects  of  speech  are  propagated  by  imitation. 

3.  Defective  hearing,  unsuspected  by  parents  or  friends,  may 
often  also  be  a  cause  of  imperfect  speech.  Few  teachers  have  any 
idea  of  the  prevalence  of  imperfect  hearing  among  their  pupils 
or  in  the  communit}'  at  large.  I  hold  in  my  hand  one  of  the  cir- 
culars of  information  of  the  National  Bureau  of  Education  con- 
cerning the  causes  of  deafness  among  school  children  and  the 
influence  of  deafness  upon  their  education,  and  from  this  cir- 


11 

cular  I  quote  the  following  significant  statement  concerning  an 
examination  of  570  pupils  of  the  public  and  parochial  schools 
of  New  York,  made  by  Dr.  Samuel  Sexton,  the  eminent  aurist. 
Dr.  Sexton  says  : 

"  In  my  own  examinations,  which  were  by  no  means  searching,  and  in 
which  the  teachers  themselves  usually  gave  the  test  questions  with  the 
intent  of  compelling  the  children  to  hear  them,  I  detected  76  cases,  or 
about  Ltf  per  cent.,  of  greatly  diminished  hearing  in  one  or  both  ears." 

In  these  cases  the  teachers  were  previously  aware  of  the  exist- 
ence of  one  case  of  deafness  only,  and  the  pupils  themselves 
were  but  little  better  informed,  only  19  of  their  number  being- 
aware  of  their  aural  defects. 

"It  is  obvious  that  diminished  hearing,  unsuspected  by  the  teacher  and 
not  fully  recognized  by  the  pupil,  must  prove  a  serious  obstacle  to  the 
acquisition  of  a  common-school  education,  and  the  inference  is  obvious 
that  the  hearing  of  our  pupils  should  be  tested,  and  that  they  should  be 
arranged  in  their  seats  in  their  class  with  special  reference  to  their  oral 
condition." 

The  tests  made  by  Dr.  Sexton  were,  as  he  confessed,  of  too 
crude  a  nature  to  bring  out  all  the  aural  defects  of  the  pupils, 
and  he  states  that  the  hearing  of  many  more  would  have  been 
discovered  to  have  been  impaired  if  more  delicate  tests  had 
been  made.     Indeed,  Dr.  Sexton  says  : 

"  The  sense  of  hearing  is  impaired  by  so  many  causes  to  which  children 
are  exposed,  many  of  them  almost  unavoidable,  that  it  is  unusual  to  meet 
with  a  child  who  has  not  experienced  some  aural  disease.  If  we  accept 
the  statement  as  approximately  correct  that  of  the  entire  population  not 
more  than  5  in  every  100  possess  unimpaired  hearing,  some  idea  at  least 
can  be  formed  of  the  prevalence  of  this  defect  in  youth." 

It  thus  appears  that  so  eminent  an  authority  as  Dr.  Sexton 
accepts  the  statement  as  approximately  correct  that  95  per  cent, 
of  the  whole  population  of  this  country  possess  impaired  hear- 
ing. This  is  indeed  a  most  startling  statement,  almost  incred- 
ible ;  but  Dr.  Sexton  has  assured  me  personally  that  whatever 
inaccuracies  there  may  be  in  the  assertion,  the  truth  is  probably 
under  rather  than  overstated ;  95  per  cent,  of  the  population  of 
this  country  have  impaired  hearing!  Not  more  than  one  in 
20  have  perfect  ears  ! 

Deafness,  we  all  know  from  our  own  experience,  is  alarmingly 
prevalent  in  the  community  ;  but  if  95  per  cent,  of  the  whole 
population  possess  impaired  hearing  how  is  it  that  we  do  not 
meet  with  more  deaf  people  than  we  do  ?  The  explanation  lies 
in  the  fact  that  we  possess  two  ears,  and  that  the  hearing  of  one 
may  be  entirely  destroyed  without  any  defect  being  apparent  to 
people  in  general.  We  do  not  call  a  person  "deaf,"  or  even 
"hard  of  hearing,"  unless  both  ears  are  affected — when,  of 
course,  the  infirmity  can  no  longer  be  concealed.  A  slight 
impairment  of  the  hearing  power  of  one  ear,  which  might 
attract  the  attention  of  an  aurist  like  Dr.  Sexton,  would  often 
not  be  noticed  even  by  the  person  himself. 


12 


DEAF-MUTISM. 


In  regard  to  those  whom  we  term  deaf  or  hard  of  hearing  I 
would  draw  your  attention  to  a  curious  fact.  While  we  all  have 
in  our  circle  of  friends  and  acquaintances  some  one  with  whom 
it  is  difficult  to  converse,  excepting  by  means  of  a  hearing  tube 
or  trumpet,  is  it  not  a  fact  that  these  deaf  friends  are  nearly  all 
adults  ?  Where  are  the  little  children  who  are  similarly  affected  ? 
Have  any  of  us  seen  a  child  with  a  hearing  tube  or  trumpet  ?  If 
not,  why  not  ?  The  fact  is  that  very  young  children  who  are 
"  hard  of  hearing,1'  or  who  cannot  hear  at  all,  do  not  naturally 
speak,  and  this  fact  has  given  origin  to  the  term  "  deaf-mute," 
by  which  it  is  customary  to  designate  a  person  who  is  deaf 
from  childhood. 

With  the  knowledge  of  what  to  do  with  the  mouth  the  im- 
parting of  speech  to  the  deaf  and  dumb  is  reduced  to  a  matter 
of  skill  and  experience  on  the  part  of  the  teacher.  It  cannot 
be  too  strongly  impressed  upon  your  memory  that  those  whom 
we  term  deaf-mutes  have  no  other  natural  defect  save  that  of 
deafness.  They  are  simply  persons  who  are  deaf  from  child- 
hood, and  muny  of  them  are  only  "hard- of -hearing."*  I  have 
myself  examined  the  vocal  organs  of  more  than  400  deaf-mutes 
without  discovering  any  other  peculiarities  than  are  to  be  found 
in  the  mouths  of  those  who  hear  and  speak.  There  is  no  defect 
in  the  mouth  to  incapacitate  it  from  utterance.  Deaf  children 
are  dumb,  not  from  lack  of  hearing,  but  from  lack  of  instruc- 
tion. No  one  teaches  them  to  speak.  With  perfect  vocal 
organs  they  are  dumb  from  ignorance  of  what  to  do,  and  teach- 
ers do  not  teach  them  to  speak  for  the  same  reason. 

The  construction  of  automaton  speaking-machines  by  the 
Baron  De  Kempelen,  Sir  Chas.  Wheatestone,  Herr  Faber,  and 
others,  shows  the  mechanical  nature  of  speech.  If  pieces  of 
wood  and  india-rubber,  crude  imitations  of  the  tongue  and 
palate,  can  be  made  to  articulate  intelligible  sentences,  why 
should  we  not  teach  deaf-mutes  to  use  the  perfect  organs  of 
speech  with  which  nature  has  endowed  them  ? 

The  fallacy  is  so  strongly  impressed  upon  the  people  at  large 
that  deaf-mutes  are  necessarily  dumb,  that  they  must  themselves 
hear  a  deaf-mute  speak  before  they  will  believe  in  the  possibility 
of  such  a  thing.  Like  doubting  Thomas,  they  must  see  for 
themselves,  they  must  hear  for  themselves.  To  such  persons  it 
may  be  a  surprise  to  know  that  in  nearly  all  the  institutions  for 
the  deaf  and  dumb  in  this  country  speech  is  taught  to  the  pupils. 
In  the  majority  of  our  institutions,  articulation  is  taught  as  an 
accomplishment  to  selected  cases,  and  no  use  of  speech  is  made 
as  a  means  of  communication.     In  a  few  of  our  institutions  all 


*  Mr.  J.  F.  Gillespie  has  shown  that  in  the  Nebraska  Institution  about 
15  per  cent,  of  the  so  called  "deaf-mutes"  hear  sufficiently  well  to  be 
taught  to  speak  by  means  of  hearing  tubes  and  other  artificial  aids  to 
hearing,  and  when  so  taught  they  become  "  hard-of -hearing  speaking 
people,  and  not  deaf-mutes." 


13 

of  the  deaf-mutes  admitted  are  taught  to  speak,  and  speech  is 
used  in  the  school-room  as  a  means  of  communication. 

The  sixteenth  annual  report  of  the  Clark  Institution  for  Deaf- 
mutes  at  Northampton,  Mass.,  contains  a  tabular  statement 
concerning  the  teaching  of  articulation  in  the  institutions  of 
the  United  States,  which  is  believed  to  be  correct,  up  to  May, 
1883.  From  this  statement  I  find  that  at  that  time  there  were 
1,991  deaf-mutes  in  our  institutions  being  taught  to  speak.  Of 
these  886  were  using  speech  as  a  means  of  communication  be- 
tween the  teachers  and  pupils,  and  1,105  were  taught  speech 
merely  as  an  accomplishment,  an  artificial  means  of  communi- 
cation being  employed  as  the  language  of  the  school-room.  It 
should  be  added  that  in  these  same  institutions  there  were  4,261 
pupils  who  receive  no  instruction  whatever  in  the  use  of  their 
vocal  organs  ;  whereas  in  Germany  and  other  countries  instruc- 
tion of  this  kind  forms  a  regular  branch  of  education,  no  more 
to  be  neglected  than  instruction  in  arithmetic  or  geography. 

It  is  only  within  the  last  15  years  or  so  that  persistent  attempts 
have  been  made  in  this  country  to  teach  articulation  to  the  deaf, 
and  the  number  of  pupils  who  are  receiving  instruction  in  the 
use  of  the  vocal  organs  is  constantly  increasing.  While  there 
are  great  differences  among  teachers  of  the  deaf  and  dumb 
regarding  the  number  of  deaf-mutes  who  can  be  taught  to 
speak,  and  the  place  that  should  be  occupied  by  speech  in  the 
school-room,  there  are  no  differences  of  opinion  as  to  the  desira- 
bility of  teaching  speech  to  as  many  as  possible,  and  of  im- 
proving and  developing  the  methods  of  instruction  so  as  to  ob- 
tain better  and  clearer  articulation  from  those  pupils  who  are 
taught  to  use  their  vocal  organs.  The  main  difficulty  in  the 
way  of  teaching  lies  in  the  difficulty  of  acquiring  teachers  who 
themselves  are  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  mechanism  of 
speech  and  with  the  methods  by  which  such  mechanism  can  be 
explained  to  those  who  cannot  hear. 

While  articulation  teachers  are  employed  in  nearly  every  in- 
stitution for  the  deaf  and  dumb  in  the  country,  the  demand 
very  greatly  exceeds  the  supply,  and  there  is  no  school  in  the 
United  States  where  such  teachers  can  be  qualified  for  their 
work.  If  the  normal  schools  of  the  country  would  add  to  their 
curriculum  instruction  in  the  mechanism  of  speech  and  in  the 
methods  of  correcting  defective  speech,  their  graduates  would 
be  able  not  only  to  correct  dialectic  and  foreign  peculiarities  of 
utterance,  and  defective  speech  in  the  pupils  of  the  public 
schools,  but,  with  very  little  special  instruction,  would  be  able 
to  undertake  articulation  teaching  in  our  schools  and  institu- 
tions for  the  deaf  and  dumb. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  present  century  there  was  no 
school  in  America  where  deaf  children  could  be  taught. 

Deaf  children,  if  uneducated,  grow  to  adult  life  with  all  the 
passions  of  men  and  women,  without  the  restraining  influences 
that  spring  from  a  cultivated  understanding.  It  was  therefore 
early  recognized  that  the  education  of  the  deaf  and  dumb  was 


14 

a  necessity.  But  the  number  of  deaf  children  in  the  country 
was  so  little  known  that  the  idea  was  seriously  entertained 
that  one  school  would  be  sufficient  to  accommodate  the  deaf 
children  of  the  United  States.  In  1817  the  American  Asy- 
lum at  Hartford  was  opened  as  a  national  school  under  the 
patronage  of  Congress  for  the  deaf  children  of  America.  It 
was  soon  found,  however,  that  one  school  would  be  insufficient 
to  accommodate  the  numbers  who  required  instruction,  and  the 
State  governments  then  took  action.  Institutions  were  estab- 
lished in  the  various  States  modelled  after  the  national  school 
in  Hartford,  Connecticut,  and  it  was  then  proposed  to  bring 
into  one  school  all  the  deaf  children  of  a  State.  But  these 
State  institutions,  together  with  the  national  school,  were  found 
to  be  insufficient  for  the  purposes  for  which  they  were  created, 
and  of  late  years  a  tendency  has  been  manifested  by  the  large 
cities  to  establish  day-schools  under  the  control  of  the  boards  of 
education,  so  that  the  deaf  children  of  the  city  may  live  at  home 
and  attend  school  like  ordinary  children.  A  few  other  schools 
have  been  established  in  different  parts  of  the  country  by  the 
enterprise  of  .private  citizens  and  by  religious  bodies,  so  that  at 
the  present  time  we  have  in  the  United  States  58  institutions 
and  schools  for  the  deaf  and  dumb,  containing  7,169  pupils,  and 
a  National  College  for  deaf-mutes,  (the  only  University  for  this 
class  in  the  world,)  containing  45  undergraduates. 

The  United  States  census  of  1880  shows  that  even  these  facil- 
ities are  inadequate  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  public.  According 
to  the  compendium  of  the  tenth  census  we  had  in  this  country, 
in  June,  1880,  no  less  than  33,878  deaf-mutes,  and  there  is  inter- 
nal evidence  to  indicate  that  many  of  the  younger  deaf-mutes 
were  not  enumerated.  The  probabilities  are  that  the  total  num- 
ber of  deaf-mutes  in  the  country  was  not  less  than  35,000.  Of 
all  the  deaf-mutes  returned,  "  more  than  one  half  "  were  of  school 
age,  (6  to  20  years;)  that  is,  we  had  about  17,000  deaf-mutes  of 
school  age  in  the  country,*  while  the  total  number  of  pupils  even 
now  under  instruction  (1884)  is  only  7,169,  and  many  of  these 
are  far  beyond  the  school  age.  Of  the  remainder  who  are  not 
in  school  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  some  had  been  educated  and 
had  left  school  before  the  date  when  the  census  was  taken.  This 
number,  however,  cannot  be  very  large,  as  the  bulk  of  the  deaf- 
mutes  under  21  were  quite  young. 

A    NEW    DEPARTURE    PROPOSED. 

Taking  all  the  evidence  into  consideration,  the  startling  infer- 
ence is  irresistible  that  there  are  about  as  many  deaf-mutes  of 
school  age  in  this  country  growing  up  without  education  as  there 
are  in  all  our  institutions  and  schools  for  the  deaf  put  together. 
The  present  institutions  and  schools  are  unable  to  accommodate 
these  children,  and  we  must  provide  other  means  for  their  educa- 

*The  corrected  returns  make  the  number  15,059,  and  the  total  deaf- 
mutes  under  instruction  in  1880  was  '5,393. 


15 

tion.  What  are  we  to  do !  The  present  is  an  opportune  time 
for  a  new  departure  in  the  education  of  the  deaf  and  dumb  in 
this  country,  and  I  come  before  you  to-day  to  request  the  atten- 
tion and  co-operation  of  the  public-school  teachers  in  the  solu- 
tion of  the  problem.  I  may  add  that  I  am  glad  to  see  so  many 
of  the  superintendents  and  principals  of  our  institutions  for  the 
deaf  and  dumb  among  the  audience  to  help  us  in  this  discussion. 

The  education  of  the  deaf  has  in  the  past  been  entrusted 
almost  exclusively  to  the  boards  of  State  charities,  and  has  come 
very  little  under  the  notice  of  those  who  of  all  others  should 
take  most  interest  in  the  subject,  the  educators  of  the  country. 

The  education  of  the  deaf  children  of  the  countiy  is  surely 
a  department  of  the  more  general  subject,  the  education  of  the 
people.  It  cannot  be  called  a  charity  to  educate  the  children 
of  those  who  pay  for  their  instruction  in  the  form  of  educa- 
tional taxes. 

It  is  a  matter  of  common  observation  that  deaf  children  often 
do  not  make  their  appearance  in  our  institutions  until  after  the 
age  when  their  education  should  be  finished  and  they  should 
be  earning  a  livelihood  for  themselves  in  the  world.  It  is  not 
uncommon  for  deaf-mutes  to  commence  their  education  at  the 
age  of  17  or  18  years,  and  some  are  even  admitted  at  25  years, 
and  even  older.  When  we  come  to  examine  the  history  of  these 
cases  we  find  that  in  many  cases  the  natural  affection  of  the  pa- 
rents has  prevented  them  from  parting  with  their  child.  They 
have  retained  him  at  home,  in  unconsciousness  of  the  lapse  of 
years,  until  at  last  the  signs  of  approaching  manhood  become 
so  evident  that  the  welfare  of  their  child  outweighs  every  other 
consideration  and  they  send  him  to  school.  It  is  a  hard  thing 
for  a  mother  to  part  with  her  child.  The  very  affliction  of  the 
little  one  binds  him  closer  to  her.  The  right  of  the  parent  to 
the  possession  of  the  child  is  one  of  those  natural,  inalienable 
rights  that  all  men  are  bound  to  respect.  Nature  gives  the 
deaf  child  into  the  custody  of  its  parents ;  to  them  belongs  the 
primary  discussion  as  to  what  is  best  for  that  child,  and  as  to 
how  and  where  he  shall  be  educated.  It  is  true  that  the  rights 
of  the  community  must  take  place  over  those  of  individuals, 
and  society  has  the  right  to  demand  as  a  matter  of  self-protec- 
tion that  deaf  children  shall  be  educated.  But  society  has  no 
right  to  demand  the  compulsory  education  of  a  deaf  child  away 
from  its  parents,  unless  it  can  be  clearly  shown  that  the  educa- 
tion of  the  child  necessitates  removal  from  home. 

In  the  days  when  it  was  supposed  that  deaf  children  were  few 
in  numbers  it  was  also  supposed  that  this  necessity  existed. 
Economy  dictated  the  policy  of  collecting  deaf  children  into 
institutions  for  the  purposes  of  education. 

But  the  recent  census  has  opened  our  eyes  in  regard  to  this 
matter,  and  wTe  have  to  face  a  very  serious  problem.  What  are 
we  to  do  for  the  neglected  children  !  The  separation  of  a  child 
from  its  parents  at  a  tender  age  cannot  but  be  considered  a  ca- 


16 

lamity.  The  family  is  the  basis  of  society.  Upon  family  gov- 
ernment is  modelled  the  government  of  the  people.  Wherever 
possible  deaf  children  should  live  at  home  and  receive  their 
education  in  a  day-school  like  ordinary  children  We  should 
supplement  our  present  schools  and  institutions  by  an  exten- 
sive development  of  day-schools.  In  all  the  centres  of  popu- 
lation the  boards  of  education  should  establish  day-schools  for 
the  deaf,  and  I  would  suggest  as  the  most  practicable,  most  use- 
ful, and  most  economical  form  of  school  to  be  established — the 
formation  of  classes  for  deaf  children  in  our  public  schools.  A 
small  room  in  a  public-school  building  can  be  set  apart  for  the 
use  of  the  deaf  children  of  the  neighborhood,  and  the  board  of 
education  should  supply  a  teacher  who  has  been  specially  trained 
in  the  methods  of  teaching  the  deaf.  In  this  room  the  deaf 
children  can  receive  all  the  benefits  of  special  education  without 
the  disadvantages  that  arise  from  exclusive  association  with 
deaf-mutes.  There  are  subjects  taught  in  our  public  schools 
in  which  instruction  is  gained  through  the  eye.  There  is  no 
reason  in  the  world  why  a  deaf  child  might  not  join  a  class  of 
hearing  children  when  instruction  is  given  in  such  studies  as 
map-drawing,  writing,  drawing,  &c.  If  the  deaf  children  have 
their  class-rooms  in  the  same  building  with  the  public  school 
they  could  take  advantage  of  the  occasions  that  arise  when  the 
deaf  could  profitably  be  mingled  with  the  hearing  children,  and 
we  might  take  advantage  of  those  times  when  they  could  not 
join  in  the  school  exercises  to  give  them  special  instruction  in 
their  special  room  by  a  special  teacher. 

The  average  per  capita  cost  of  the  education  of  a  deaf  child 
in  an  American  institution  is  $223.28  per  annum.  It  is  evident 
that  a  great  saving  would  be  effected  to  the  State  if  the  parents 
assume  the  expense  of  board,  that  forms  so  heavy  an  item  in  the 
cost  #t  the  present  time  at  an  institution.  Even  if  no  more  than 
four  deaf  children  could  be  brought  together  in  one  school,  still 
the  expense  to  the  State  would  be  no  greater  than  if  they  were 
sent  to  an  institution.  The  expense  of  such  a  class  could  easily 
be  kept  within  $800,  which  would  give  a  per  capita  cost  of  $200 
instead  of  $223.28.  If  10  deaf  children  could  be  brought  into 
one  class  the  economy  would  be  very  great,  and  the  State  could 
afford  to  spend  upon  Industrial  Education  even  a  greater  amount 
than  is  now  expended  on  the  support  of  expensive  shops  and 
manufactories  connected  with  our  institutions  for  the  deaf  and 
dumb,  so  expensive  that  we  can  only  afford  to  give  our  deaf 
pupils  a  choice  of  a  very  limited  number  of  trades,  which  many 
of  the  deaf-mutes  do  not  follow  in  adult  life.  I  say  that  the 
State  could  afford  to  expend  a  larger  amount  and  more  profit- 
ably to  the  community  and  to  the  deaf-mutes  themselves  in 
apprenticing  the  deaf  graduates  of  the  public  schools  to  the 
trades  of  their  choice.  At  the  present  time  a  deaf-mute  is 
compelled  to  learn  a  trade  or  business  by  which  he  may  earn  a 
livelihood  before  he  leaves  the  institution,  and  he  is  extremely 


17 

limited  in  his  choice.  Whatever  may  be  his  mental  capacity, 
whatever  predilections  he  may  have  in  favor  of  certain  pursuits, 
he  must  become  a  shoemaker,  a  cabinet-maker,  a  tailor,  or  a 
carpenter.  His  choice  is  limited  to  the  trades  that  are  taught 
in  his  institution.  In  adult  life,  if  the  deaf-mutes  were  all  to 
work  at  the  trades  they  were  taught  in  school,  they  would 
come  into  competition  with  one  another  and  lower  their  wages. 
Few  people  want  a  deaf-mute  employe,  and  the  demand  for 
their  services  in  the  trades  they  are  taught  is  less  than  the 
supply.  The  result  is  that  large  numbers  of  the  graduates  of 
our  institutions  earn  their  livelihood  by  trades  that  they  do  not 
acquire  at  school.  How,  then,  did  they  learn  these  trades  !  By 
being  apprenticed  in  an  ordinary  shop  among  hearing  people. 
These  cases  are  sufficiently  numerous  to  show  that  deaf-mutes 
can  acquire  a  knowledge  of  a  trade  or  business  by  working  in 
an  ordinary  shop.  The  expense  of  apprenticing  deaf  children 
to  the  trades  of  their  choice  would  be  very  much  less  than  the 
present  system,  where  the  State  has  to  assume  the  risks  of  the 
business  itself.  There  is  no  reason  why  the  education  of  a  deaf 
child  in  a  day-school  should  interfere  with  his  acquiring  the 
knowledge  by  which  he  may  gain  his  livelihood  and  become  a 
self-supporting  citizen  of  the  community  he  lives  in.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  deaf  and  dumb,  even  when  uneducated,  are 
rarely  a  burden  on  the  community.  Deafness  is  no  bar  to  phys- 
ical labor;  indeed,  the  labor  of  uneducated  deaf-mutes  is  often 
of  so  much  value  to  their  parents  as  to  lead  to  their  retention 
at  home  instead  of  sending  them  to  school. 

In  regard  to  the  education  of  the  deaf,  it  is  well  known  that, 
as  a  general  rule,  the  pupils  of  a  small  school  make  greater  pro- 
gress than  the  pupils  of  a  large  institution,  because  the  teachers 
can  give  individual  attention.  The  smaller  the  class,  the  more 
individual  attention  can  be  given  to  the  children. 

At  the  present  time  the  national,  State,  or  city  governments 
establish  certain  schools  for  the  deaf,  and,  upon  the  requisition 
of  the  parents,  a  certain  amount  of  public  money  is  appropri- 
ated for  the  education  of  the  child  at  one  of  these  schools.  As 
I  have  stated  before,  a  number  of  other  schools  have  sprung  up 
through  private  enterprise,  but,  as  a  general  rule,  these  private 
schools  are  not  encouraged  by  State  aid,  and  the  burden  of  ex 
pense  is  thrown  upon  the  parents. 

I  would  suggest  that  the  State  governments  make  provision 
for  training  teachers  of  the  deaf  in  the  normal  schools.  A  certain 
standard  of  proficiency  should  be  required  from  the  graduates. 
Then  let  the  State  and  city  governments  recognize  not  only  the 
institutions  they  have  established,  but  the  teachers  who  obtain 
proper  certificates  of  competency  to  teach  the  deaf.  Let  these 
teachers  be  entitled  to  receive  for  every  deaf  child  under  their 
instruction  the  usual  per  capita  amount  appropriated  by  the 
State  for  the  education  of  her  deaf  children.  Such  a  plan  would 
prove  specially  advantageous  in  rural  districts,  where  a  school 


18 

for  the  deaf  could  not  be  maintained  excepting  at  the  expense 
of  the  parents,  for  the  State  would  grant  to  a  certilied  compe- 
tent teacher  the  usual  per  capita  amount  for  the  instruction  of 
a  deaf  child,  and  thus  assist  the  parents  in  the  burden  of  the 
expense. 

Instead  of  sending  the  children  to  institutions  for  education, 
send  the  teachers  to  the  children  to  educate  them  in  their  own 
locality  wherever  practicable.  There  will  still  be  an  abundance 
of  children  to  employ  all  the  existing  institutions,  as,  unfortu- 
nately, there  will  always  be  a  large  proportion  of  children  whose 
home  surroundings  are  of  an  unfavorable  character.  It  would 
not  be  advisable  to  disturb  the  existing  institutions  at  the  pres- 
ent time ;  the  field  would  be  wide  enough  for  them  and  for  all 
the  day-schools  we  can  establish,  but  I  would  decidedly  oppose 
the  increase  of  such  establishments  for  the  following  reasons : 

OBJECTIONS    TO    AN    INCREASE     IN    THE    NUMBER    OF    OUR    LARGE    INSTI- 
TUTIONS. 

Segregation  in  childhood  for  the  purposes  of  education  tends 
to  segregation  in  adult  life.  Institution  life,  by  removing  deaf- 
mutes  from  their  normal  environment,  tends  to  make  them  a 
distinct  class  in  the  community.  The  vast  majority  of  the 
graduates  of  our  institutions  do  not  mingle  with  the  hearing 
world.  Their  society  is  almost  exclusively  confined  to  them- 
selves ;  even  in  their  marital  relations  they  are  exclusive.  They 
intermarry  among  themselves  and  some  of  them  have  deaf 
children. 

I  have  already  shown,  in  a  paper  recently  read  before  the 
National  Academy  of  Sciences,*  and  now  being  published  by 
Congress  among  the  memoirs  of  the  Academy,  that  there  is 
serious  danger  of  the  formation  of  a  deaf  variety  of  the  human 
race  due  to  this  cause.  Statistics  show  that  the  congenital 
deaf-mutes  of  the  country  are  increasing  at  a  greater  rate  than 
the  population  at  large,  and  that  the  deaf  offspring  of  deaf- 
mutes  are  increasing  at  a  greater  rate  than  the  deaf-mute  popu- 
lation. While  it  is  impossible  at  the  present  time  to  arrive  at 
the  proportion  of  deaf  offspring  born  of  deaf-mute  marriages, 
the  following  facts  show  that  it  is  very  many  times  greater  than 
the  proportion  in  the  community  at  large. 

According  to  the  recent  census  the  deaf-mutes  constitute  one 
in  1,500  of  the  population  of  the  United  States.  If,  then,  the 
proportion  of  deaf-mutes  originating  among  the  deaf-mutes 
themselves  were  no  greater  than  in  the  community  at  large, 
they  would  constitute  no  more  than  one  in  1,500  of  the  deaf- 
mute  population.  In  other  words,  there  would  be  no  more 
than  23  deaf  children  in  the  country  who  are  themselves  the 
children  of  deaf-mutes.  Whereas  no  less  than  215  such  chil- 
dren have  already  been  admitted  as  pupils  into  35  of  our  insti- 

*  Memoirs  of  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences,  vol.  ii,  pp.  179-262. 


19 

tutions.  The  other  23  institutions  have  not  replied  to  my 
queries  upon  the  subject.  This  number  does  not  include  the 
children  too  young  to  be  sent  away  from  home.  Very  few 
pupils  are  admitted  into  our  institutions  for  the  deaf  and  dumb 
before  they  are  10  or  12  years  of  age,  and  many  do  not  reach  the 
institutions  until  they  have  almost  arrived  at  adult  life.  It  is 
evident,  therefore,  that  the  above  number  (215)  does  not  at  all 
express  the  total  number  of  such  children  in  the  United  States. 
Even  if  we  assume  that  the  total  number  is  no  greater  than  230, 
(and  the  probabilities  are  that  it  is  more  nearly  twice  that 
number,)  the  proportion  is  ten  times  greater  than  in  the  com- 
munity at  large,  or  one  in  150,  instead  of  one  in  1,500.  But 
these  children  were  nearly  all  born  deaf,  whereas  nearly  half 
of  the  deaf-mutes  of  the  country  became  deaf  from  apparently 
accidental  causes.  So  that  the  liability  to  the  production  of  con- 
genital deaf-mutes  is  more  nearly  20  times  that  of  the  popula- 
tion at  large  than  ten  times.  If,  as  is  not  unreasonable,  we 
assume  that  the  proportion  who  marry  is  less  among  the  deaf- 
mutes  than  in  the  community  at  large,  then  it  follows  that,  family 
for  family,  the  proportion  of  deaf  offspring  is  still  greater  than 
that  presumed  above.  While  we  have  not  the  data  from  which 
to  ascertain  the  exact  number  of  deaf  children  in  the  country 
whose  parents  are  deaf-mutes,  it  is  absolutely  certain  that  it 
very  much  exceeds  230,  (the  number  given  above,)  and  it  may 
even  be  twice  that  number,  from  which  it  follows  that  the  pro- 
portion of  deaf  offspring  born  of  deaf-mutes  is  much  greater 
than  the  maximum  quoted  above.  The  indications  are  that 
about  45  per  cent,  of  the  deaf-mutes  in  our  institutions  marry, 
and  that  of  those  who  marry  more  than  80  per  cent,  marry  deaf- 
mutes.  In  the  case  of  the  others  who  marry  hearing  persons, 
the  indications  are  that  in  a  large  proportion  of  cases  the  hearing 
partners  belong  themselves  to  families  containing  deaf-mutes, 
(probably  the  brothers  or  sisters  of  deaf-mute  friends.) 

For  the  past  forty  or  fifty  years  there  has  been  some  selective 
influence  at  work  which  has  led  to  the  continuous  selection  of 
the  deaf  by  the  deaf  in  marriage.  If,  as  is  not  unreasonable, 
this  influence  should  continue  in  the  future,  the  deaf  children 
of  deaf-mutes  will  themselves,  in  most  cases,  marry  deaf-mutes, 
and  transmit  their  defect  to  some  of  the  grandchildren.  Thus 
there  is  every  evidence  that  the  work  of  selection  will  go  on 
from  generation  to  generation  until  a  deaf  variety  of  the  human 
race  is  produced.  Those  who  believe,  as  I  do,  that  the  produc- 
tion of  a  defective  race  of  human  beings  would  be  a  great  calamity 
to  the  world,  will  examine  carefully  the  causes  of  the  intermar- 
riage of  deaf-mutes,  with  the  object  of  applying  a  remedy. 
Among  the  most  important  causes  we  may  note :  (1)  Exclusive 
segregation  in  childhood  for  the  purpose  of  education,  and  (2) 
the  use  in  the  school-room,  as  a  vernacular,  of  a  language  which 
is  not  the  language  of  the  people  among  whom  the  deaf  chil- 
dren ought  to  live  in  the  future,  but  is  a  language  special  to 
deaf-mutes,  and  which  tends  to  draw  still  closer  the  bonds  that 


20 

unite  them  to  one  another  and  to  repel  them  from  the  society 
of  hearing  persons. 

Institution  life  necessarily  tends  to  the  evolution  of  a  special 
language  suitable  for  intercommunication  among  deaf-mutes. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  this  has  been  earned  to  such  an  extent  in  this 
country  that  the  "  sign  language  "  usurps  the  place  of  the  English 
language  in  the  majority  of  our  institutions.  The  "sign  lan- 
guage" is  used  as  the  ordinary  means  of  communication,  and 
the  English  language  is  taught  chiefly  as  a  school  exercise, 
somewhat  as  German  and  French  used  to  be  taught  in  our  pub- 
lic schools.  The  pupils  translate  from  English  into  the  sign 
language  and  vice  versa.  On  this  plan  they  think  in  the  sign 
language,  and  English  is  apt  to  remain  a  foreign  tongue.  Thus 
not  only  is  it  the  case  that  the  majority  of  our  deaf-mutes  are 
not  taught  to  speak,  but  alas!  many  of  them  do  not  learn  to 
read  and  write  correctly.  They  often  write  in  broken  English 
as  a  foreigner  would  speak.  It  is  a  lamentable  fact  that  deaf- 
mutes  are  mere  children  in  their  knowledge  of  our  literature. 
They  do  not  read  books  above  the  grade  of  children's  books. 
While  they  can  understand  a  good  deal  of  what  they  see  in  the 
daily  newspapers,  especially  if  it  concerns  them  personally,  they 
often  do  not  comprehend  leading  editorials,  political  articles, 
&c.  Their  poor  knowledge  of  the  English  language  is  due 
mainly,  I  think,  to  the  use  of  the  sign  language  as  a  means  of 
communication  in  school  instead  of  the  English  language  ;  and 
the  retention  of  the  sign  language  is  due  to  institution  life  and 
suitability  as  a  means  of  intercommunication  among  deaf- 
mutes.  In  an  institution  where  there  are  only  deaf-mutes  the 
English  language  is  of  no  immediate  utility,  and  the  only  stimu- 
lus to  its  acquisition  is  the  fact  that  it  will  be  of  use  to  them 
in  adult  life  when  they  leave  the  institution,  whereas  if  the 
normal  environment  was  retained  during  the  period  of  educa- 
tion the  English  language  would  come  into  daily  requisition. 
Under  such  circumstances  the  sign  language  would  not  facili- 
tate communication  with  those  who  surround  them,  whereas 
every  English  word  or  expression  learned  in  school  would  be 
of  immediate  utility  outside.  While  institution  life  is  directly 
favorable  to  the  growth  of  some  form  of  gesture  language  as  a 
means  of  communication  among  the  pupils,  and  to  its  retention 
when  once  established,  another  cause  has  led  to  the  perpetua- 
tion of  the  present  sign  language  in  America:  this  is,  a  wide- 
spread belief  among  our  teachers  of  the  deaf  and  dumb  that  a 
gesture  language  is  necessarily  the  only  form  of  language  that 
can  be  naturally  acquired  by  a  congenital  deaf-mute,  and  that 
such  a  language  must  first  be  acquired  for  the  purposes  of  com- 
munication, and  then  be  utilized  as  a  means  of  teaching  Eng- 
lish. I  have  elsewhere  fully  demonstrated  the  fallacy  of  this 
conception,*  and  therefore  will  not  take  up  the  time  of  this  Con- 
vention by  rediscussing  the  question.     Those  who  are  interested 


21 

in  the  subject  will  find  upon  the  table  copies  of  the  paper  re- 
ferred to,  and  they  are  requested  to  help  themselves.  I  am  so 
fully  convinced  that  the  use  of  the  sign  language  is  the  main 
difficulty  in  the  way  of  the  acquisition  of  the  English  language 
by  the  deaf  and  dumb  pupils  of  our  institutions,  and  that  it  is 
the  main  cause  of  their  segregation  in  adult  life  and  of  their 
intermarriages,  that  I  would  urge  the  abolition  of  the  sign  lan- 
guage in  our  schools  for  the  deaf,  and  the  substitution  of  the 
English  language  in  its  written  and  spoken  forms.  Let  the 
teachers  be  careful  in  their  intercourse  with  their  pupils  to  use 
English  and  English  alone.  They  can  write ;  they  can  speak  by 
word  of  mouth ;  they  can  spell  the  English  words  by  a  manual 
alphabet ;  and  by  any  or  all  of  these  means  they  can  teach  Eng- 
lish to  their  pupils  as  a  native  tongue. 

I  think  we  should  aim  to  give  the  deaf  in  childhood  as  nearly 
as  possible  the  same  environment  they  should  have  in  adult 
life.  We  should  bring  together  deaf  children  in  as  small  num- 
bers as  possible  in  the  midst  of  hearing  children  in  large  num- 
bers. We  should  bring  them  together  only  for  the  purpose  of 
instruction.  After  school  hours  we  should  separate  them  from 
one  another  so  as  to  prevent  the  formation  of  a  special  lan- 
guage, and  scatter  them  among  their  hearing  friends  in  the 
outside  world. 

E.  M.  Gallaudet,  President  of  the  National  College  for  Deaf- 
Mutes,  was  called  to  the  chair. 

President  Gallaudet.  A  distinguished  publicist  has  had  for 
many  years  as  one  of  his  chosen  mottoes  the  words,  "  Tradi- 
tion and  progress."  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  members  of  this 
National  Teachers'  Association,  I  do  not  need  to  tell  you  that 
we  live  in  a  land  of  progress  ;  that  we  live  in  an  era  of  progress  ; 
in  a  land  where  new  ideas  are  welcomed ;  where  inventions  are 
the  order  of  the  day  ;  and  I  need  not  hesitate  to  express  in  your 
behalf  the  satisfaction  with  which  we  have  listened  to  the  sug- 
gestions of  our  eminent  friend,  Mr.  Bell,  on  this  occasion,  in 
which  he  proposes  a  new  departure  in  the  work  of  the  educa- 
tion of  the  deaf,  namely,  the  association  of  this  branch  of  instruc- 
tion with  the  work  of  our  common  schools.  We  welcome  his 
suggestions  ;  we  listen  to  them  with  respect ;  but,  ladies  and 
gentlemen,  it  is  also  the  glory  of  this  young  country  that,  while 
it  is  a  country  of  progress  and  of  new  ideas,  it  does  not  disre- 
gard the  traditions  of  the  past ;  that  it  is  ever  ready  to  read 
history  ;  that  it  is  ever  ready  to  profit  by  the  lessons  of  history, 
and  to  look  backward  as  well  as  forward  ;  that  while  we  step  for- 
ward we  may  be  careful  not  to  repeat  any  of  the  errors  of  the  past. 

*  "  Fallacies  concerning  the  deaf,  and  the  influence  of  these  fallacies  in 
preventing  the  amelioration  of  their  condition."  See  Bulletin  of  the  Philo- 
sophical Society  of  Washington,  vol.  iv,  p.  48 ;  also  American  Annals  of 
the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  Jan.,  J  884. 


22 

It  is,  therefore,  with  great  pleasure,  as  this  is  an  occasion  for 
the  interchange  of  differing  views,  that  I  announce  to  this  au- 
dience a  paper  bearing  directly  upon  the  subject  before  us  by 
Professor  Gordon,  of  the  National  College  for  Deaf-Mutes  in 
Washington  city,  in  which  will  be  presented  a  view  of  what  has 
been  attempted  to  be  done  in  this  direction  in  other  countries 
than  our  own.  After  the  reading  of  his  paper,  time  will  be  had 
for  the  discussion  of  the  subject  presented  in  the  papers  read, 
including  Mr.  Gillespie's  paper  on  aural  education  of  the  deaf. 
It  is  known  that  there  are  here  professors  and  heads  of  many 
institutions  and  schools  for  the  deaf  in  this  country,  institu- 
tions where  the  manual  method  is  pursued,  and  others  where 
the  oral  method  is  pursued,  and  it  is  presumed  that  an  interest- 
ing and  profitable  discussion  will  follow  the  reading  of  Professor 
Gordon's  paper. 

Professor  Joseph  C.  Gordon,  professor  of  mathematics  and 
chemistrv  in  the  National  College  for  Deaf -Mutes,  Washington, 
D.  C. 

Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  Before  entering 
upon  the  reading  of  my  paper,  allow  me  to  say  that  I  entertain  so 
profound  a  respect  for  my  distinguished  friend  who  has  just  pre- 
ceded me,  that  it  is  with  great  diffidence  that  I  present  this 
paper.  And  if  we  differ,  it  is  only  because  the  logic  of  hard 
facts  leads  us  to  differ.  I  will  also  say,  by  way  of  explana- 
tion, that  I  have  endeavored  to  condense  into  this  paper  a  whole 
library,  and  a  rare  one,  and  I  have  been  aided  in  this  work  by 
my  accomplished  friend,  Professor  Fay,  especially  in  some  mat- 
ters relating  to  the  work  in  Germany. 

Professor  Gordon  then  read  the  following  paper  : 

HISTORICAL  EXPERIMENTS  IN  ASSOCIATED  EDU- 
CATION.* 

BY    JOSEPH    C.    GORDON. 

Necessity,  wisely  recognized,  has  developed  in  America  certain 
agencies  for  the  education  of  deaf  children.  These  agencies,  in 
their  fullest  and  best  development,  are  organisms  or  institutions 
possessing  elements  of  vitality  and  continuity  essential  to  benefi- 

*  The  substance  of  this  paper  was  presented  subsequently,  at  the  annual 
meeting  of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  at 
Philadelphia,  Sept.  4-11,  1884. 

The  writer's  endeavor  has  been  to  present  a  dispassionate  historical 
sketch  of  the  principal  theories  of  deaf-mute  instruction,  in  connection 
with  the  public  or  common-school  system,  which  have  been  put  to  the  test 
of  experience  for  long  periods  in  different  lands  and  under  a  wide  range  of 
conditions.  The  principal  schemes  are  given  in  outline ;  the  hopes, 
promises,  and  prophecies  of  their  promoters  and  the  outcome  of  their 
efforts  are  set  down  ;  and,  if  aught  unessential  or  irrelevant  appears,  it  is 
retained  on  account  of  the  comparative  inaccessibility  and  increasing 
rarity  of  many  of  the  works  consulted.     In  begging  the  kind  indulgence 


23 

cent  progress.  These  institutions,  largely  permanent  in  their 
personnel,  as  well  as  in  their  purpose,  are  organized  to  fit  deaf 
children  for'  the  manifold  duties  of  life  incumbent  upon  the 
members  of  civil  society.  To  accomplish  this  task  of  mental, 
moral,  physical,  and  industrial  training  these  organizations  re- 
quire, and  consequently  create  and  maintain,  groups  of  asso- 
ciated "  specialists."  Many  of  these  specialists  are  "  experts  "  in 
the  departments  to  which  they  devote  their  lives,  and  the  system 
which  gives  full  scope  to  the  employment  of  their  powers,  through 
division  of  duties  and  association  of  effort,  and,  moreover,  gains 
the  cumulative  and  intensified  results  due  solely  to  union  of 
individuals,  commends  itself  alike  to  pedagogics,  to  economics, 
and  to  common-sense. 

When  we  attempt  to  trace  the  history  of  deaf-mute  instruc- 
tion we  find  that  similar  institutions  throughout  Europe  have 

of  his  readers  for  the  imperfections  and  length  of  this  article  the  writer 
would  remind  them  that  it  is  no  easy  task  to  condense  a  small  library  into 
a  single  paper.     The  following  is  a  partial  list  of  the  works  consulted  : 

Alings  :   Gatalogus  Biblioth.  Guyot.     Groningen,  1883. 

Arrowsmith  :  The  Art  of  Instructing  the  Infant  Deaf  and  Dumb,  etc. 
London,  1819. 

Bebian  :  Manuel  oV  enseignement,  etc.     Paris,  1827. 

Blanchet  :  La  Surdi-Mutiti.     2  vols.     Paris,  1850-52. 

Blanchet  :  Moyens  oV  Universaliser,  etc.     (If  Impartial,  v.  III.) 

Boselli  :   Critique  du  livre  de  M.  Arrowsmith.     (11th  Claremont  Kep.) 

Bulletin  Societe  Pereire.     Paris,  1877-8. 

Bulletin  Societe  Gentrale.     Paris,  1874. 

Carton  :  Einstruction  mise  d  la  portee  des  instituteurs  primaires  et  des 
parents.     Brussels  and  Paris,  1856. 

Compte  Rendu  du  Congres  tenu  d  Paris,  1878. 

Gompte  Rendu  du  Congres  tenu  d  Milan,  1880. 

Compte  Rendu,  Societe  pour  V Enseignement  Simultane.     Paris,  1881. 

Czech  :    Versinnlichte  Denk-  und  Sprachlehre,  etc.     Vienna,  1836. 

France  :  Rapport  par  une  Commission  de  VInstitut,  etc.     Paris,  1857. 

Gerando  :  E Education  des  Sourds-Muets.     2  vols.     Paris,  1827. 

Grosselin:  De  la  Possibilite  de  V Enseignement  du  Sourd-Muet  dans 
VEcole  Primaire.     1882. 

Hartmann  :  Deaf -Mutism,  etc.     (Cassell's  tr.)     London,  1881. 

Houdin  :  De  la  Surdi-Mutite.     Paris,  1855. 

Houdin  :  Rapport  de  Statistique,  du  Congres  a  Bordeaux.     1882. 

Magnat  :  Enseignement  des  Sourds-Muets  dans  les  Ecoles  Primaires  en 
France.     1878. 

Magnat  :  Organisation  des  Ecoles  de  Sourds-Muets.     Geneva,  1880. 

Morel,  O.:  La  Vie  de  Gerando.    Paris,  1846. 

Morel,  E.  :  Hire,  2i&me,  Sieme  circulaires,  etc.,  de  Paris,  1827,  '29,  '32. 

Piroux:  Memoire,  etc.,  etc.     1864. 

Proceedings  of  Conferences  of  English  Head-Masters.     London,  1881 . 

Proceedings  of  Convention  of  Articulation  Teachers.     New  York,  1884. 

Recoing:  Le  Sourd-Muet  entendantpar  les  yeux,  etc.     Paris,  1829. 

S^gert  :  In  E  Impartial  and  in  Am.  Annals. 

Vaisse  :  Analyse  des  Comm.  de  MM.  Renn,  Gronewald,  Hill,  Wagner, 
Rdssler,  Kruse,  etc.    D Impartial,  1858. 

Valade-Gabel  :  Methode  a  la  portee  des  instituteurs  primaires,  etc. 
Paris,  1857. 

Waether  :   Geschichte  des  Taubstummen-Bildungsicesen,  etc.    1883. 


24 

grown  up  apparently  through  necessity  rather  than  choice. 
Theorists  proposed  other  and  different  solutions  of  the  perplex- 
ing problem  of  deaf-mute  instruction.  The  great  body  of 
writers  upon  the  subject  advocated  the  education  of  the  deaf 
in  more  or  less  intimate  connection  with  the  public  schools. 
The  institutions  were  almost  without  advocates  or  defenders, 
the  theorists  had  their  way,  and  the  experiments  were  under- 
taken with  the  approval  and  active  support  of  the  ruling 
powers. 

The  earliest  scheme  was  that  of  Dr.  H.  Stephani,  School 
Counsellor  of  Bavaria.  He  regarded  institutions  for  the  deaf 
as  useless  luxuries,  articulation  and  methodical  signs  as  alike 
unnecessary,  and  reduced  the  art  to  alphabetical  writing,  aided 
by  an  improved  manual  alphabet  supplemented  by  a  few  signs. 
His  views  were  set  forth  in  a  vigorous  article  in  the  Bavarian 
School  Friend  in  1815,  and  the  article  was  reprinted  in  pam- 
phlet form  for  wider  circulation. 

Five  years  later  J.  Leonhard  Alle,  of  Wiirtemberg,  (1777- 
1857,)  published  his  "  Guide  to  the  Instruction  of  Deaf -Mute 
Children  in  Writing,  Beading,  Arithmetic,  and  Speech,  and  to 
their  Development  into  Good  and  Useful  Citizens."  He  favored 
articulation,  though  permitting  a  limited  use  of  signs,  and 
urged  pastors  and  teachers  to  undertake  the  work  of  deaf-mute 
instruction. 

In  1825  Mag.  Wilhelm  Friedrich  Daniel,  of  Wiirtemberg, 
(1784 — 1861,)  published  a  treatise,  in  three  volumes,  upon  "The 
General  Education  of  Deaf-Mutes  and  the  Blind,  especially  in 
Families  and  Public  Schools."  Daniel  recognized  the  utility 
of  the  existing  institutions  as  models  for  other  schools  and  for 
the  education  of  orphans  and  others  who  could  not  be  taught 
at  home,  but  considered  the  education  of  the  deaf  with  hearing 
children  as  mutually  advantageous.  To  instruction  in  common 
he  would  add,  daily,  special  instruction  to  the  deaf  by  the  teacher, 
and  this  was  to  be  supplemented  by  the  co-operative  assistance  of 
pastors,  parents,  brothers,  and  sisters.  He  regarded  the  sign- 
language  as  an  essential  factor  in  the  work. 

We  now  come  to  an  able  and  honored  educator  whose  in- 
fluence has  been  very  great  throughout  central  and  western 
Europe,  Dr.  Johann  Baptist  Graser,  of  Bavaria,  (1766 — 1841.) 
In  1821  Dr.  Graser  founded  an  experimental  school  for  deaf 
children,  as  a  department  of  an  elementary  school  for  boys,  at 
Bayreuth.  The  deaf  children,  four  in  number  in  1834,  were 
associated  with  the  other  children  as  closely  as  possible,  but 
received,  daily,  separate  and  special  instruction  from  a  skilful 
teacher.  After  one  year  and  a  half  or  two  years  of  special 
training  the  deaf  pupils  were  expected  to  be  qualified  to  enter 
the  regular  classes  in  the  elementary  school,  continuing,  how- 
ever, to  receive  more  or  less  special  instruction.  Dr.  Graser 
attached  great  importance  to  the  early  acquisition  of  the  ability 


25 

to  write  from  dictation.  Rejecting  signs  and  manual  spelling, 
his  cardinal  principle  may  be  stated  thus : 

The  eye  of  the  deaf-mute  takes  the  place  of  the  ear ;  you  have  simply 
to  speak  to  him  slowly  and  distinctly ;  he  will  learn  to  understand  the 
motion  of  the  lips,  and  will  reproduce  the  sounds  by  imitating  the  move- 
ments made  by  the  lips  and  other  vocal  organs  of  the  teacher.  Thus, 
without  any  difficulty,  he  learns  to  talk  and  to  understand  others,  and 
can  pursue  his  education  in  the  common  schools.  The  essential  point  is 
for  the  teacher  to  speak  more  slowly  and  distinctly  than  if  he  had  none 
but  hearing  children  before  him. 

Dr.  Graser's  views  seem  to  have  undergone  modification  with 
larger  experience,  as  he  afterward  proposed  the  establishment 
of  at  least  one  school  in  each  province  exclusively  for  deaf- 
mutes.  In  1829  and  1834  he  published  "  The  Deaf -Mute  Re- 
stored to  Humanity  (Menschheit)  by  Visible  and  Spoken  Speech," 
and  in  1843  "The  Instruction  of  Deaf-Mutes  in  Childhood."  In 
1833  there  were  in  Bavaria  six  day-schools  for  deaf-mutes  in 
connection  with  common  schools,  which  had  been  in  operation 
for  ten  years. 

In    1836   Franz    Hermann  Czech,    of   Bohemia,   ( 1841,) 

published  his  "  Illustrated  Mental  and  Vocal  Education  with 
reference  to  Religion,  Morality,  and  Practical  Life."  [64  cop- 
per plates.]  Czech  was  himself  a  teacher  of  the  deaf,  and 
acknowledged  the  superiority  of  the  institutions,  but  urged 
pastors  and  the  teachers  of  common  schools  to  undertake  the 
special  instruction  of  the  deaf  where  institutions  were  not  prac- 
ticable. 

Johann  Paul  Wich,  of  Bavaria,  attempted  to  popularize  the 
work  of  instruction  by  giving  courses  of  free  lectures  upon  the 
subject.  In  1842  he  published  the  first  part  of  his  "  Course  of 
Instruction  of  Deaf- Mutes  in  Language.", 

Michael  Schwartzmaier,  also  of  Bavaria,  a  disciple  of  Dr. 
Graser,  published  in  1850  a  plea  for  "The  Union  of  the  Ele- 
mentary Instruction  of  Deaf-Mutes  with  the  Elementary  In- 
struction of  Hearing  Children." 

The  views  of  these  writers  appear  to  have  met  with  no  serious 
opposition  throughout  Germany  and  were  accepted  by  educators 
with  remarkable  unanimity.  Germany,  in  common  with  her 
neighbors,  had  been  greatly  impoverished  by  the  Napoleonic 
wars,  and  economy  of  cost  in  the  general  diffusion  of  deaf-mute 
education  was  the  principal  motive  of  all  who  wrote  upon  the 
subject.  Special  schools  were  few;  no  one  thought  it  possible 
to  establish  institutions  for  the  education  of  all  the  deaf,  and  it 
seemed  plausible  enough  that  parents,  brothers,  sisters,  pastors, 
and  public-school  teachers  might  give  deaf  children  a  sufficient 
education  through  their  combined  efforts,  provided  special  in- 
struction, adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  deaf,  could  be  given  by 
the  school-teacher. 

The  instruction  of  the  deaf  was  thus  made  a  part  of  the  pub- 
he  school  system.  Special  inducements  were  held  out  to  teachers 
to  receive  deaf  pupils,  and  systematic  and  persistent  efforts  were 


26 

made  to  qualify  teachers  for  the  work.  The  preferred  method 
was  to  give  a  practical  training  of  one  entire  year  in  deaf-mute 
schools  established  in  connection  with  the  normal  schools  or 
"  seminaries "  in  which  teachers  were  educated.  Deaf-mute 
schools  were  opened  in  the  seminaries  in  Saxony,  Westphalia, 
Posen,  Prussia,  and  Pomerania  for  the  purpose  of  training 
teachers,  and  the  institutions  in  Berlin,  Konigsberg  and  Miin- 
ster,  together  with  other  deaf-mute  schools,  afforded  special 
facilities  for  the  same  purpose. 

The  co-operation  of  the  government  was  not  lacking,  for  the 
Ministry  at  Berlin  issued  an  edict,  May  14,  1828,  providing  for 
the  special  instruction  of  teachers,  and  granting  a  suitable  sum 
for  carrying  the  provisions  of  the  decree  into  effect  for  a  period 
of  six  years.  The  Ministry  had  great  confidence  in  the  effi- 
ciency of  the  scheme,  and  said  that  "in  the  course  of  ten  years 
it  will  be  easily  brought  about  that  in  all  the  provinces  of  the 
Kingdom  provision  will  be  made  for  the  education  of  all  the 
unfortunate  deaf  and  dumb." 

The  work  was  prosecuted  with  Teutonic  thoroughness  and 
vigor,  large  numbers  of  educated  men  became  interested  in  the 
education  of  the  deaf,  great  enthusiasm  was  developed,  numer- 
ous experiments  in  methods  were  made,  the  artificial  system  of 
signs  of  De  l'Epee  and  Sicard  was  practically  banished  from 
Germany,  and  even  the  colloquial  and  natural  language  of  signs 
approved  by  Bebian  in  France  and  Gallaudet  in  America  was 
looked  upon  with  disfavor.  fl?he  period  under  review  must  be 
regarded  as  one  of  progress  in  many  lines,  but  the  generations 
of  pupils  subjected  to  these  educational  experiments  fared  badly 
enough,  and  the  rose-colored  prophecy  of  the  Ministry  was  not 
fulfilled. 

S^gert,  the  official*  Inspector  of  Deaf-Mute  Instruction,  re- 
ports in  1854,  twenty-six  years  after  the  Ministerial  order,  that 
in  Brandenburg  alone,  exclusive  of  Berlin,  there  were  63  children 
receiving  no  instruction,  68  were  in  the  public  schools,  and  170 
were  receiving  private  tuition  under  80  teachers.  He  says  fur- 
ther : 

The  older  institutions  have  been  strengthened,  new  ones  called  into  life, 
and  the  expense  of  educating  the  deaf  has  been  diminished ;  but  the  hope 
that  deaf-mute  institutions  would  become  superfluous  has  not  been  realized. 
*  *  *  Of  a  common  instruction  of  the  deaf  and  hearing  in  the  same 
classes  no  one  any  longer  speaks.  *  *  *  [Referring  to  Dr.  Graser's 
plan  of  preliminary  instruction,  he  says  :]  When  once  a  deaf-mute  child 
is,  by  special  instruction,  sufficiently  advanced  to  understand  the  language 
of  the  common  school  teacher,  his  education  in  all  respects  is  substantially 
accomplished ;  hence  he  no  longer  needs  the  public  school. 

The  distinguished  Moritz  Hill,  Government  Inspector  of  the 
Instruction  of  Deaf- Mutes  in  Western  Prussia,  author  of  a  num- 
ber of  practical  works  upon  articulation  and  other  studies  of 
the  deaf,  and  actively  employed  in  the  propagation  of  the 
Prussian  system  from  1830,  says,  in  1858 : 


27 

I  have  followed  with  care  the  results  throughout  Germany,  and  I  have  been 
compelled  finally  to  recognize  the  illusory  character  of  the  system.  School 
authorities  and  families  are  positively  opposed  to  having  deaf-mute  children 
in  the  schools,  because  they  are  always  a  detriment  to  the  hearing  children. 
The  hope  that  each  deaf-mute  could  receive  necessary  instruction  at  home 
in  common  with  hearing  children  and  without  injury  to  the  latter  has  been 
abandoned.  The  results  of  the  entire  system  have  been  very  slight.  It 
is  true  that  the  preparation  of  the  deaf-mute  before  entering  a  special  in- 
stitution is  very  important,  yet  the  cases  are  not  rare  where  even  this  prep- 
aration has  been  found  more  of  a  hindrance  than  a  help  to  the  final  in- 
struction of  the  pupil  in  the  special  schools. 

The  Prussian  statistics  of  1871  give  2,250  pupils  in  institu- 
tions, and  1,406  in  the  common  schools.  The  latter  were  nomi- 
nally associated  with  hearing  children,  but  generally  received 
special  instruction  from  specially  trained  teachers. 

The  statistics  of  1881  give  5,618  in  the  institutions,  with  no 
figures  for  the  common  schools.  The  union  of  deaf-mute  schools 
with  the  normal  schools  has  been  abandoned,  and  the  attempt 
at  associated  education  is  no  longer  made. 

Walther,  the  latest  historian  of  deaf-mute  education  in  Ger- 
many, says:  "The  task  which  is  now  assigned  to  the  common 
schools  consists  in  the  preparation  of  deaf-mutes  for  a  deaf- 
mute  institution  by  accustoming  them  to  habits  of  neatness  and 
order,  attention  and  activity,  and  teaching  them  penmanship, 
drawing,  and  the  comprehension  of  figures  up  to  ten."  The 
instruction  in  articulation,  lip-reading,  language,  and  other 
branches  is  deferred  to  the  special  schools,  which  now  number 
nearly  100,  with  an  attendance  of  about  6,000  pupils. 

The  general  course  of  experiment  tried  in  the  German  States 
was,  to  a  certain  extent,  followed  throughout  central  and 
northern  Europe  with  similar  results. 

In  France  the  subject  enlisted  the  interest  of  intellects  of  the 
highest  order,  and  attempted  solutions  of  the  problem  led  to 
numerous  experiments  which  illustrate  Gallic  genius  and  in- 
genuity. 

The  Baron  de  Gerando,  (1772-1842,)  historian,  publicist, 
philosopher,  and  philanthropist,  was  an  officer  of  the  Paris  In- 
stitution, and  the  author  of  a  classic  work  upon  deaf-mute  edu- 
cation, published  in  1827.  He  says  :  "  Some  hold  that  deaf- 
mutes  can  be  educated  only  in  public  establishments,  others 
that  these  institutions  ought  to  be  suppressed  as  needless 
luxuries,  while  some  even  advocate  their  education  in  the  com- 
mon school,  along  with  those  who  hear  and  speak"  His  own 
view  was  that  "  special  institutions  are  necessary  for  the  per- 
fecting, unification,  and  preservation  of  methods,  and  indis- 
pensable to  the  full  development  of  the  art,  and  in  them  alone 
can  deaf-mutes  obtain  an  enlarged  and  liberal  education."  In- 
cidentally he  remarks  upon  certain  advantages  :  "Economy  in 
collective  and  simultaneous  instruction  by  accomplished  and 
able  masters  ;  the  inspiration  of  genuine  comradeship :  the 
pupils  help  themselves,  they  excite  one  another  in  rivalry,  and 
the  more  advanced  aid  and  encourage  'those  who  lag  behind." 


28 

He  held  that  the  art  could  be  simplified  so  that  parents  and 
educated  teachers  having  great  zeal  and  patience  might  do  a 
great  deal  in  the  way  of  elementary  instruction ;  and  he  recom- 
mended the  preparation  of  a  manual  based  upon  Bebian's  work 
and  the  use  of  writing,  the  manual  alphabet,  "  short-hand,"  arti- 
culation and  lip-reading,  carefully  graded  language  exercises, 
simplified  text-books,  and  pictures. 

Roch-Ambroise-Auguste  Bebian,  ( 1839,)  nephew  of  the 

brilliant  Sicard,  in  his  day  second  only  to  De  FEpee,  and  more 
sagacious  than  he,  was  the  first  to  apprehend,  in  a  measure,  the 
true  genius  of  the  sign-language  as  a  natural  growth  commen- 
surate with  the  deaf-mute's  expanding  ideas,  rather  than  a  crea- 
tion, and  consequently  he  was  the  first  to  reject  the  elaborate 
.and  artificial  grammatical  system  of  methodical  signs  contrived 
by  De  l'Epee  and  Sicard.  He  also  substituted  the  direct  study 
of  language  interpreted  by  language  for  the  attempted  process 
of  translation  from  signs  into  written  language,  and.mce  versa. 
The  reformed  and  natural  system  set  forth  by  him  was  adopted 
by  the  council  of  the  Paris  Institution  and  published  in  1827. 
An  illustrated  elementary  work  was  published  in  part  by  Bebian 
in  1831,  entitled  "Education  of  Deaf-Mutes  brought  within  the 
reach  of  Primary  Teachers  and  All  Parents." 

Recoing  of  Troyes,  father  of  a  deaf-mute,  published,  in  1829, 
a  work  entitled  "  The  Deaf- Mute  Hearing  with  his  Eyes,"  which 
gives  an  account  of  the  course  pursued  by  him  in  the  education 
of  his  child.  He  was  not  an  opponent  of  the  institutions,  but 
simply  related  his  own  experience  and  demonstrated  the  possi- 
bility of  a  parent's  educating  his  deaf  child  himself.  His  work 
is  worthy  of  careful  study.  He  recommends  writing,  signs  un- 
derstood by  all  men,  stenography,  "  syllabic  dactylology,"  and 
lip-reading  ;  and  remarks  that  lip-reading  is  practised  by  many 
who  do  not  learn  to  speak  the  words.  He  attaches  great  im- 
portance to  "  incessant  conversation,"  and  follows  De  Gerando 
in  recommending  out-door  lessons  or  walks  for  observation  two 
days  in  each  week.  In  1823  he  published  a  work  upon  Syllabic 
Dactylology.  This  system  of  dactylology,*  when  once  mastered, 
admits  of  the  rapidity  of  spoken  language  in  the  manual  use  of 
the  vernacular.  It  was  experimented  upon  in  the  Paris  Insti- 
tution, but  did  not  meet  with  great  favor  from  the  pupils,  who, 
being  familiar  with  signs,  expressed  a  decided  preference  for 
their  use. 

Joseph  Piroux,  (1799-1884,)  founder  and,  until  his  death, 
principal  of  the  Institution  at  Nancy,  was  actively  engaged  in 
deaf-mute  instruction  for  more  than  sixty  years.  He  was  a 
member  of  many  learned  societies,  and  the  author  of  numerous 


*A  much  simpler  system  of  "  dactylography  "  based  upon  the  Dalgamo 
alphabet,  with  positions  for  about  twenty  common  terminations,  was  pro- 
posed by  Wilhorgne  of  Rouen,  in  1847.  This  manual  alphabet  is  figured 
and  described  in  Annates  de  V Education  des  Sourds-Muets,  vol.  iv,  pp. 
27-34,  132-136. 


29 

theoretical  and  practical  works  upon  deaf-mute  instruction.  Dr. 
Graser  began,  it  will  be  remembered,  with  the  special  school  and 
ended  with  the  public  school ;  Piroux's  plan  was  quite  the  re- 
verse. First,  he  would  have  the  family  train  the  deaf  child  in 
work  suited  to  its  age,  communicating  with  it  as  freely  as  pos- 
sible by  gestures  ;  next,  the  primary  school  to  continue  the  work 
begun  at  home,  first  impressing  upon  the  pupil  order  and  dis- 
cipline, and  gradually  introducing  him  to  writing,  manual 
spelling,  and  drawing,  by  exercises  common  to  the  school,  and 
incidentally  teaching  words  and  groups  of  words ;  and,  finally, 
the  special  institution  to  accomplish  the  grammatical  training 
and  all  higher  instruction. 

In  1830  he  introduced  his  system  into  the  primary  schools 
of  eight  departments  of  north-eastern  France.  He  remarks 
forty-eight  years  later:  "It  has  not  ceased  to  result  that  80  per 
cent,  of  our  pupils,  happily,  are  'rough-hewn'  upon  their  ad- 
mission to  the  institution,  so  that  in  five  years,  instead  of  seven, 
they  have  acquired  sufficient  knowledge  of  language,  morals, 
religion,  the  elements  of  certain  sciences,  and  a  profession,  to  be 
able  to  make  their  way  through  life."  At  least  one  thousand 
pupils  have  been  trained  under  his  immediate  supervision,  and 
several  thousand  more  owe  their  education  in  some  degree  to 
his  labors. 

In  certain  of  his  works  Mr.  Piroux  unfolds  a  philosophical 
system,  which  begins  with  light  manual  labor  and  useful  and 
agreeable  actions  to  arouse  the  pupils'  affections  and  interest. 
From  actions  he  passes  to  representative  gestures,  employing 
first  the  entire  body,  then  the  arms,  and  finally  manual 
spelling,  which  henceforth  becomes  the  most  useful  means  of 
communication  and  the  most  powerful  instrument  of  educa- 
tion. He  attaches  great  importance  to  illustrative  drawings, 
and  he  was  the  first  instructor  of  the  deaf  to  project  a  series  of 
designs  as  aids  in  teaching  language.  His  earliest  work  con- 
tains 500  plates,  with  the  corresponding  words  and  sentences 
upon  the  reverse  side  of  the  pictures.  This  work  was  also  pub- 
lished in  the  form  of  detached  cards  for  school-room  use.  Sin- 
gle pictures  are  employed  to  illustrate  even  complex  formulas, 
such  as  "A  woman  who  is  carrying  a  child  in  her  arms,"  "A 
dog  which  is  chasing  a  hare  across  a  plain."  Written  and 
printed  language  is  introduced  last  in  Mr.  Piroux's  system. 

Much  of  his  writing  is  metaphysical  and  obscure,  but  his 
works  are  characterized  by  that  fertility  of  invention,  zeal,  and 
pertinacity  which  contributed  to  his  marked  success  as  an  edu- 
cator. Though  not  a  partisan  of  articulation,  he  taught  it  suc- 
cessfully, and  he  was  the  inventor  of  an  ingenious  system  of 
visible  speech  in  which  the  hands  represent  the  positions  of  the 
vocal  organs  for  the  various  elements.  Among  Mr.  Piroux's 
works  may  be  named — 

The  Illustrated  Vocabulary,  1830. 

A  Chart  of  Familiar  and  Primary  Instruction,  (25  lessons,)  1831. 


30 

Philosophical  Theory  of  Instruction  of  Deaf-Mutes,  1831. 

Phrase  Book  for  Deaf -Mutes,  1842. 

Solution  of  Principal  Questions  Relative  to  Deaf -Mutes,  1850. 

Reflections  upon  the  Instruction  of  Deaf -Mutes,  1853. 

Method  of  Dactylology  for  the  Use  of  Deaf-Mutes  in  the  Family, 
Primary  School,  Institution,  and  the  World,  1856. 

Critical  Examination  of  the  So-called  Method  of  Educating  the  Deaf- 
Mute  in  the  Family  and  in  the  Primary  School  among  Speaking  Children, 
1860. 

Comparative  Examination  of  All  Methods,  etc.,  1861. 

Memoir  upon  Mr.  Piroux's  Labors  in  Making  a  Beginning  of  the  Edu- 
cation of  Deaf-Mutes  in  Primary  Schools,  etc.,  1864. 

Consideration  of  the  Means  of  Instructing  All  Deaf-Mutes  with  the 
Greatest  Success,  1873. 

J.  J.  Valade-Gabel,  (1801-1879,)  a  distinguished  instructor 
of  the  deaf,  honorary  principal  of  the  Bordeaux  Institution,  and 
author  of  many  works  relating  to  deaf-mute  education,  wrote 
for  educational  journals,  between  1851  and  1854,  a  series  of 
articles  upon  home  education  and  the  utility  and  possibility  of 
commencing  the  education  of  the  deaf  in  primary  schools.  In 
1853  the  Central  Society  for  the  Education  and  Aid  of  Deaf- 
Mutes  offered  a  prize  for  an  essay  "  upon  the  best  means  of 
qualifying  a  primary  instructor  to  commence  the  education  of 
a  deaf-mute  in  the  public  schools."  In  1855  no  less  than  eigh- 
teen memoirs  competed  for  this  prize.  Four  received  honorable 
mention  and  one  a  gold  medal,  but  the  elaborate  treatise  of 
Valade-Gabel  was  declared  by  the  president  of  the  commission 
"not  in  the  competition,  but  above  it."  This  work  afterward 
received  the  approval  of  the  Academy  of  France,  and  finally 
formed  the  basis  of  the  course  of  study  adopted  by  the  Paris 
Institution.  It  is  entitled  a  "  Method  within  the  Eeach  of  Pri- 
mary Instructors  to  Teach  the  French  Language  to  Deaf-Mutes 
without  the  Intervention  of  the  Language  of  Signs."  It  is, 
in  effect,  an  expose  of  the  course  introduced  into  the  Bordeaux 
Institution  in  1838.  Following  the  lead  of  Bebian  in  rejecting 
an  artificial  sign-language,  Valade-Gabel  goes  further,  and  at- 
tempts to  restrict  natural  signs  to  narrow  limits,  and  to  teach 
the  deaf  to  associate  ideas  directly  with  written  language.  In 
the  primary  course  there  are  five  degrees.  In  the  first  the 
pupil  obeys  directions  by  actions,  in  the  second  he  gives  orders, 
in  the  third  he  answers  questions,  in  the  fourth  he  transmits 
the  thought  of  the  teacher,  and  in  the  fifth  he  asks  questions 
in  his  turn  or  engages  in  dialogue. 

Valade-Gabel  borrowed  freely  from  Pestalozzi,*  Girard,  and 
others  such  principles  and  processes  as  were  deemed  by  him 
applicable  to  his  work.  In  1862  he  was  commissioned  by  the 
government  to  inspect  all  the  deaf-mute  schools  in  France, 
except  the  three  under  the  immediate  patronage  of  the  State. 
He  devoted  six  years  conscientiously  to  this  task,  and  in  1875 
published  a  summary  of  his  report.     In  this  he  says : 

*  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  Pestalozzi  himself  was  a  diligent  student 
of  the  methods  employed  in  the  education  of  deaf  children. 


31 

The  frequent  association  of  deaf-mutes  and  speaking  persons  is  of 
mutual  advantage,  and  should  be  sought  whenever  it  is  practicable ;  but 
one  must  not  be  deluded  in  regard  to  the  amount  of  instruction  in  lan- 
guage to  be  derived  from  it  by  the  congenitally  deaf.  *  *  *  Deaf- 
mutes  should  be  sent  when  very  young  to  the  village  schools.  There 
their  intellect  will  be  aroused.  "They  will  be  instructed  in  their 
thoughts,"  as  one  of  the  sisters  expressed  it. 

In  his  tour  he  found  about  200  pupils  in  the  institutions  who 
had  received  attention  in  the  primary  schools  or  in  their  own 
families.  Almost  all  of  them  had  learned  to  form  the  written 
characters,  some  of  them  to  count,  some  the  meaning  of  a  few 
words,  and  one  or  two  to  express  their  own  ideas  in  writing. 

These  men  did  not  seek  to  revolutionize  the  system  of  deaf- 
mute  education  so  much  as  to  simplify  it,  and  to  extend  its  bene- 
fits to  all  the  deaf  children  of  France.  We  now  review  the 
career  of  one  who  proposed  to  do  away  with  the  institutions 
except  as  asylums  for  orphans  and  the  extremely  poor.     Dr.  A. 

Blanchet  ( 1867)  proposed,  in  1836,  the  co-education  of 

deaf-mutes  and  hearing  children  in  the  common  schools,  but 
his  plan  was  not  tried  in  Paris  until  the  year  1848,  when  he 
opened  two  schools  for  hearing  children  with  a  few  deaf-mutes 
in  each.  One  year  later  four  schools  of  this  character  were 
adopted  by  the  authorities  as  municipal  schools.  In  3  850  ten 
of  these  schools  were  in  operation,  and  in  1855  the  Council  of 
Public  Instruction  for  the  department  of  the  Seine  declared 
that  "  this  system  which  receives  deaf-mutes  in  their  early  child- 
hood has  the  immense  advantage  of  retaining  them  in  the  bosom 
of  their  families,  and  of  placing  them  in  schools  in  the  midst  of 
speaking  pupils  who  become  their  companions  in  study  and  in 
play,  and  thus  form  ties  of  comradeship  and  affection  which 
can  have  upon  their  future  only  the  happiest  influence." 

In  1857  Dr.  Blanchet  presented  a  memoir  to  the  Academy  of 
Moral  and  Political  Sciences  "  Upon  the  Means  of  Generalizing 
the  Education  of  Deaf-Mutes  without  separating  them  from  the 
Family  and  from  those  who  speak."  In  this  paper  Dr.  Blanchet 
sets  forth  at  length  the  advantage  of  mixed  schools  over  special 
institutions.  The  following  abstract  includes  the  principal 
points : 

Being  extemats,  the  child  is  not  exiled  to  an  institution  at  an  age  when 
nothing  can  take  the  place  of  home  life.  The  family  is  relieved  from  the 
anxieties  of  absence ;  its  tender  affection  constantly  helps  to  lighten  the 
child's  infirmity  ;  it  takes  part  in  his  instruction ;  it  exercises  him  in  articu- 
lation and  in  lip-reading  with  patience  and  gentleness  not  to  be  found 
elsewhere  ;  it  cultivates  the  habit  of  conversation,  and  by  its  aid  the  child 
accpiires  speech  insensibly,  without  dislike  and  without  fatigue.  No  moral 
tie  is  strained  or  broken.  The  child  entering  these  schools  at  the  age  of 
five  or  six  accomplishes  his  education  at  the  same  time  and  in  company 
with  the  hearing  children,  and  he  can  enter  his  apprenticeship  to  a  trade 
at  the  same  time  as  others.  He  grows  up  with  them — their  companion  in 
play  and  in  work,  emulating  them  in  all  the  exercises  of  body  and  mind. 
With  the  vivacity  of  childhood  he  will  learn  reading  upon  the  lips ;  he 
will  exercise  himself  in  speech,  he  will  realize  its  value,  and,  possessing  it, 
he  will  no  longer  be  an  object  of  pity  or  curiosity.     Thus  family  life, 


32 

affectionate  sentiments,  sociability,  helpful  friendships— all  the  moral  ad- 
vantages of  education — are  found  in  this  system,  so  advantageous  to  the 
deaf-mute,  to  his  family,  and  to  society. 

Influenced  by  the  propaganda  begun  and  kept  up  by  the 
zealous,  enthusiastic,  and  irrepressible  apostle  and  prophet  of 
the  "new"  system,  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  was  led,  in  1858, 
to  issue  a  circular  to  the  prefects  of  all  the  departments,  giving 
the  weight  of  official  approval  to  Dr.  Blanchet's  views.  This 
circular  alleged  that  the  superiority  of  this  system  had  been 
successfully  demonstrated  in  Belgium,  Sweden,  Denmark,  the 
majority  of  the  German  states,  and  in  Paris  itself;  set  forth  in 
detail  the  advantages  of  the  system,  and  declared  the  confi- 
dent belief  that  it  would  be  adopted  throughout  the  Empire. 
To  hasten  this  result,  every  department  was  urged  to  send,  at 
its  own  expense,  one  or  two  delegates  of  each  sex  from  the  nor- 
mal schools  to  Paris  to  receive  a  course  of  special  training,  to 
be  imparted  by  them  to  their  fellow-pupils  in  the  normal  schools 
upon  their  return. 

This  document  was  extensively  circulated,  and  called  forth 
more  or  less  hostile  criticism  from  competent  authorities  in 
other  countries,  such  as  Renn  of  Munich,  Gronewald  of  Co- 
logne, Hill  of  Weissenfels,  Wagner  of  Gmiind,  Bossier  of 
Osnabriick,  Kruse  of  Schleswig,  and  others.  The  experience 
of  Belgium  having  been  cited  by  the  Minister  as  a  conspicuous 
example  of  the  efficiency  of  associated  education,  the  distin- 
guished Canon  Carton,  of  Bruges,  an  advocate  of  "co-educa- 
tion "  and  the  author  of  a  work  entitled  the  "  Instruction  of  the 
Deaf  and  Dumb  brought  within  the  reach  of  Primary  Teachers 
and  Parents,"  which  was  awarded  the  gold  medal,  in  1855,  at 
the  competition  before  referred  to,  wrote  as  follows : 

With  us  no  institution  for  deaf-mutes  has  been  replaced  by  the  pri- 
mary schools.  No  one  in  Belgium  has  dreamed  of  realizing  this  idea. 
Common-school  teachers  can  be  put  in  the  way  of  co-operating  usefully 
in  the  instruction  of  the  young  deaf-mutes  in  their  communes,  and  their 
co-operation  can  shorten  the  time  required  for  the  special  instruction  of 
these  unfortunates  in  our  institutions ;  but  the  desire  to  suppress  these 
special  schools  could  only  enter  the  head  of  a  Utopian  or  an  enthusiast. 

In  1859  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  issued  a  second  circular, 
in  which  he  says :  "  The  new  method  of  instruction  has  not  yet 
been  definitively  ordered,  but  it  is  being  made  an  object  of  pro- 
found examination." 

The  writer  finds  no  trace  of  any  official  document  embodying 
the  further  views  of  the  Minister,  and  though  many  depart- 
ments made  appropriations  in  accordance  with  the  ministerial 
recommendation  for  a  few  years,  the  funds  were  not  expended 
and  the  proposed  system  of  training  teachers  seems  to  have 
been  abandoned. 

Dr.  Blanchet's  system  contemplates  the  education  of  those 
born  deaf  by  means  of  lip-reading  supplemented  by  "dactylog- 
raphy," which  utilizes  the  sense  of  touch,  natural  signs,  writing, 
and  action  and  object  lessons.     All  who  retain  a  vestige  of  hear- 


33 

ing  or  of  speech  are  to  be  exercised  in  lip-reading  and  speech, 
and  these  means  are  to  be  employed  in  their  further  instruction. 
Deaf  children  are  to  be  associated  with  hearing  children  as 
closely  as  possible,  but  instruction  in  common  is  contemplated 
only  in  such  exercises  as  writing,  drawing,  and  employments  of 
the  school-room  which  do  not  absolutely  require  the  sense  of 
hearing.  The  remainder  of  the  work  is  to  be  done  by  the  spec- 
ial instruction  of  specially  trained  teachers.  Dr.  Blanchet's 
teachers  were  drawn  from  "les  Freres  de  la  doctrine  chreti- 
enne"  and  ules  Soeurs  de  charite."  In  1882  the  official  statis- 
tics designate  seven  schools,  with  an  estimated  attendance  of 
60  deaf  pupils,  as  Blanchet  schools.  These  schools  are  kept 
up  through  the  devotion  of  a  few  teachers  and  the  aid  of  a 
society  organized  by  Dr.  Blanchet  in  1849. 

Though  Dr.  Blanchet  was  a  voluminous  writer,  he  has  left 
no  definite  indication  of  the  precise  methods  to  be  employed  in 
qualifying  teachers  for  the  work.  Endowed  with  considerable 
genius  himself,  full  of  sympathy  for  the  unfortunate,  ardent 
and  enthusiastic  in  all  his  undertakings,  doubtless  his  personal 
experiments  upon  individual  cases  gave  promise  of  great  suc- 
cess ;  but,  extreme  in  his  views,  impatient  for  results,  extrava- 
gant in  his  assertions,  and  eager  for  fame,  he  aroused  bitter 
animosities  toward  himself,  and  has  left  behind  him  no  worthy 
disciple  to  uphold  his  system  among  the  educators  of  the  deaf. 

No  doubt  his  arraignment  of  the  French  institutions  contrib- 
uted to  needed  reforms,  but  his  own  system,  as  practised  in 
Paris,  degenerated  rapidly  and  wras  overwhelmed  with  ridicule 
in  the  official  report  of  a  commission  of  the  Institute  of  France. 
The  arguments  so  forcibly  employed  by  Dr.  Blanchet  for  the 
association  of  deaf  and  hearing  children  were  applicable  to 
other  classes,  and  as  a  result  this  commission  found,  in  1861,  in 
two  of  the  schools  visited,  and  known  as  "  Blanchet  schools," 
and  which  occupied  rooms  alongside  of  public  schools,  the  deaf, 
the  semi-deaf,  the  blind,  stammerers,  and  imbeciles,  but  no  ordi- 
nary children. 

Dr.  Blanchet's  principal  works  are — 

Deaf -Mutism ;  a  Philosophical  and  Medical  Treatise.    2  vols.    1850  '52. 

Concerning  Speech  for  Deaf-Mutes.     1847. 

Report  to  the  Imperial  Academy  of  Medicine. 

Means  of  Generalizing  the  Education  of  Deaf -Mutes  in  Primary  Schools 
without  separating  them  from  Family  and  Friends.     1858. 

Documents  relative  to  Generalizing  the  Education  of  the  Deaf  and  the 
Blind  in  the  Primary  Schools.     1862. 

Reports  to  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  upon  the  Education  of  Deaf- 
Mutes  in  Belgium  and  Germany. 

When  Dr.  Blanchet's  crusade  began,  the  institutions  were 
very  large  and  overcrowded,  the  supervision  of  the  pupils  was 
largely  in  the  hands  of  persons  of  little  experience,  the  disci- 
pline copied  from  the  great  French  schools  of  the  day  was  mili- 
tary and  severe,  the  vacations  were  usually  very  short,  and  there 
was  but  little  semblance  of  family  life  ;  besides,  pupils  were  not 


34 

admitted  until  about  ten  years  of  age,  and  no  provision  was 
made  for  the  instruction  of  the  great  majority  of  the  deaf 
children  throughout  the  country.  All  this  ha3  been  changed. 
Very  young  children  are  admitted  to  the  institutions,  and,  now, 
co-education  in  infant  schools  or  kindergartens  is  a  topic  of  inter- 
est in  France.  A  special  system  due  to  French  ingenuity  has 
met  with  considerable  favor  which  undertakes  to  commence  the 
education  of  deaf  children  at  three  years  of  age  in  common  with 
hearing  children. 

Augustin  Grosselin,  ( 1870,)  a  stenographer  by  profession, 

was  the  originator  of  an  application  of  .gestures  to  the  sounds 
of  the  French  language  by  means  of  which  young  and  back- 
ward hearing  children  may  easily  learn  to  spell  phonetically  and 
to  read.  Each  of  the  thirty-two  sounds  of  the  French  language 
is  associated  with  an  appropriate  gesture,  and  the  association  is 
strengthened  by  suitable  anecdotes.  The  cry  of  an  angry  cat 
resembles  the  sound  of  /*,  and  this  is  associated  with  a  gesture 
imitating  the  cat's  extended  paw.  E  is  represented  by  the  ges- 
ture for  calling  a  person,  a  by  the  gesture  for  admiration,  o  by 
the  gesture  for  surprise,  etc.  This  process  for  teaching  children 
to  read  was  called  by  Mr.  Grosselin  the  Phonomimic  Method. 
It  is  obvious  that  the  phonomimic  alphabet  could  be  used  by 
the  deaf  to  spell  words,  and  thus  form  a  means  of  communica- 
tion between  them  and  those  who  hear,  though  the  signs  would 
be  arbitrary  and  thus  lose  much  of  their  interest  to  the  deaf. 
In  the  hands  of  ingenious  teachers  familiar  with  kindergarten 
methods  Mr.  Grosselin's  process  has  been  developed  into  a 
method  of  simultaneous  instruction  in  infant  schools  for  the 
deaf  and  those  who  hear.  Though  not  providing  directly  for 
articulate  speech,  its  advocates  claim  that  this  system  promotes 
it,  and  that  it  is  a  valuable  aid  to  the  acquisition  of  lip-reading. 
In  Mr.  E.  Grosselin's  works  teachers  are  advised  to  give  special 
lessons  in  articulation  to  the  deaf  out  of  the  regular  school- 
hours. 

The  first  phonomimic  school  was  opened  in  Paris  in  1865. 
The  next  year  a  society  to  promote  the  system  was  formed  by 
Mr.  Grosselin.  This  society  was  recognized  by  the  govern- 
ment as  of  public  utility  in  1875,  and  has  been  kept  up  through 
the  activity  of  Mr.  Emile  Grosselin,  son  of  the  founder.  Mr. 
E.  Grosselin  pronounces  the  benefit  derived  from  the  associa- 
tion of  deaf  children  in  special  day-schools  alongside  of  the 
public  schools  a  will  o'  the  wisp  which  has  been  pursued  in 
vain.  The  statistics  of  1881  give  177  deaf  children  in  phono- 
mimic schools,  and  those  of  1882  report  164  deaf  children  in 
106  phonomimic  schools  in  France  and  Algiers. 

The  principal  works  of  Mr.  A.  Grosselin  are  "The  Phono- 
mimic Method  of  Making  Heading  Easy  and  Attractive,  and 
Permitting  the  Simultaneous  Instruction  of  Deaf- Mute  and 
Hearing  Children,"  1864,  and  "  A  Manual  of  the  Phonomimic 
Method,"  etc.,  (3d  ed.,)  1881. 


35 

A  "  congress  "  of  persons  interested  in  the  amelioration  of  the 
condition  of  deaf-mutes  and  the  blind  was  held  in  Paris  in 
1878.  At  this  meeting  the  relation  of  deaf-mute  instruction  to 
the  public  schools  was  one  of  the  topics  discussed  by  educators 
of  the  deaf. 

Mr.  Magnat,  of  the  Pereire  School  in  Paris,  declared  himself 
"in  accord  with  all  instructors  who  have  seriously  studied  this 
question  ;  '  the  instruction  of  the  deaf-mute,  demanding  a  pecu- 
liar method  and  processes  of  its  own  not  applicable  to  ordinary 
children,  necessarily  refuses  itself  to  instruction  in  common.'  " 

Mr.  Hugentobler,  of  Geneva,  speaking  from  experience,  said : 
•'  The  development  of  the  faculties  of  these  two  categories  of 
pupils  is  not  the  same,  and  it  is  not  in  our  power  to  change 
this  undeniable  fact.  We  can  obtain  happy  results  and  of  a 
nature  to  strike  the  imagination,  but  these  are  always  more  or 
less  isolated  facts." 

The  Abbe  Lambert  spoke  favorably  of  the  results  at  Bourg- 
la-Reine,  where  the  classes  are  separate  but  labor  is  common, 
and  claimed  to  have  seen  in  this  the  realization  of  Dr.  Blan- 
chet's  dreams. 

Mr.  Bouvier,  of  the  articulation  school  at  Saint  Hippolyte-du- 
Fort,  spoke  of  the  advantages  of  association  of  his  pupils  with 
other  children  during  their  annual  visit  to  the  seaside. 

Mr.  E.  Grosselin  set  forth  the  claims  of  the  phOnomimic 
method.  The  discussion  was  finally  closed  with  the  adoption 
of  this  resolution : 

The  Congress  is  of  the  opinion  that  it  is  very  useful  to  the  intellectual 
development  of  young  deaf-mutes  that  these  children  should  be  admitted 
to  the  primary  school  with  hearing  and  speaking  children  until  they  can 
enter  a  special  school. 

A  national  convention  of  instructors  of  the  deaf  was  held  at 
Bordeaux  in  1881,  at  which  a  committee*  reported  that  in  the 
regions  of  Lyons  and  the  Jura  many  deaf-mutes  have  been  edu- 
cated at  home ;  in  the  former,  some  five  or  six  by  the  oral 
method.  Mr.  Hugentobler  reported  at  Lyons  a  few  deaf  pupils 
in  phonomimic  schools,  with  results  not  very  satisfactory.  In 
the  region  of  St.  Brieue  a  few  pupils  attended  common  schools 
while  too  young  to  enter  the  special  schools.  At  Toulouse 
many  of  the  pupils  had  attended  the  common  schools  without 
profit  to  themselves  and  to  the  annoyance  of  the  classes,  and 
the  education  received  by  deaf-mutes  isolated  within  their 
own  families  was  found  insufficient.  At  Orleans  some  deaf- 
mutes  had  been  placed  in  the  public  schools,  but,  making  no 
progress  there,  had  been  transferred  to  the  Institution.  At 
Poitiers  the  results  of  co-education  were  almost  nothing.  Mr. 
Grosselin  reported  four  cases  of  marked  success  from  the  pho- 
nomimic schools  of  France  and  Algiers. 

*  Houdin  :  Rapport  presente  en  seance,  etc.  1882.  The  statistics  for 
1882  give  60  institutions  in  France,  with  an  attendance  of  2,956  pupils. 
Statistics  of  1883  give  67  institutions  in  France,  with  3,482  pupils. 


36 

It  thus  appears  that  in  France  movements  in  the  direction  of 
associated  education  have  had  the  sympathy  and  approval  of  the 
great  body  of  educators,  and  that  many  ingenious  experiments 
have  been  tried  by  able  and  experienced  instructors ;  but  to-day 
the  special  institutions  are  more  numerous  and  nourishing  than 
ever,  and  it  is  only  under  exceptional  conditions  that  deaf  pupils, 
are  found  in  the  public  schools,  or  in  special  schools  alongside 
of  the  public  schools. 

The  line  of  experiment  so  popular  upon  the  continent  never 
met  with  great  favor  in  England,  though  it  has  been  advocated 
by  a  few  writers,  and  in  recent  years  upon  the  floor  of  Parlia- 
ment. 

John  Pauncefort  Arrowsmith's  work  upon  the  "Art  of  In- 
structing the  Infant  Deaf  and  Dumb  "  was  published  in  London 
in  1819,  and  a  German  translation  appeared  at  Leipsic  in  the 
following  year.  It  thus  appears  that  Arrowsmith's  work  ante- 
dates all  others  upon  this  subject,  excepting  Dr.  Stephams 
essay  in  the  Bavarian  School  Friend  of  1815.  His  views 
have  been  echoed  by  a  few  writers  for  reviews  and  newspapers  ; 
a  few  parents  have  been  induced  to  try  the  experiment ;  a 
few  experimental  schools  were  projected,  and  this  appears  to 
have  been  the  measure  of  its  direct  influence  in  Great  Britain. 
His  work  gives  an  interesting  account  of  the  education  of  his 
deaf-mute  brother.  His  mother,  "who  was  a  woman  of  firm 
mind,"  "believing  that  the  window,  the  eye,  could  take  the 
place  of  the  door,  the  ear,"  decided  that  this  deaf  child  should 
be  educated  at  home  and  at  school  with  her  hearing  children. 
From  the  first  she  strove  to  impress  upon  the  minds  of  all  her 
children  the  same  duties  of  morality  and  religion,  the  deaf  boy 
imitating  the  outward  observances  of  his  companions.  The 
boy  entered  a  dame's  school  at  four  years  of  age  along  with  his 
brother.  The  good  dame  was  at  her  wits'  end  with  her  deaf 
pupil,  and  evidently  did  little  more  than  follow  the  mother's 
suggestions.  "  In  a  few  months  he  learned  to  pronounce  the 
alphabet  in  his  own  way."  His  mother  then  supplied  a  num- 
ber of  alphabetical  counters,  such  as  are  used  in  the  game  of 
word-making,  with  which  he  learned  to  spell  the  names  of  all 
common  objects  and  the  name  and  trade  of  every  person  in 
the  parish.  Words  were  explained  by  actions,  signs,  and  syn- 
onymes.  By  means  of  the  alphabetical  cards  the  sentences 
"cat  can  eat  meat,"' "dog  cannot  eat  meat,"  were  spelled,  and 
the  meaning  was  taught  by  placing  some  meat  before  a  cat  and 
a  muzzled  dog.  These  sentences  served  as  models  for  others, 
and,  advancing  by  degrees,  it  is  claimed  that  in  eight  years  "  he 
could  read  the  Bible  and  most  books  to  advantage,  communi- 
cate his  own  ideas,  and  understand  others  by  writing,"  though 
his  command  of  language  was  confessedly  imperfect.  He  ac- 
quired a  fair  knowledge  of  arithmetic,  but  the  means  employed 
are  not  indicated,  save  that  finger-counting  was  used.  He 
learned  to  form  letters  with  the  pen  at  six  years  of  age,  and 


37 

speedily  excelled  his  schoolmates  in  penmanship.  This  supe- 
riority was  keenly  relished  by  the  boy.  He  gained  a  command 
of  many  sentences  by  seeing  his  mates  obey  written  orders. 
He  was  entrusted  with  errands  expressed  in  writing,  in  order 
to  increase  his  appreciation  of  language.  Pictures  were  found 
very  helpful.  At  the  age  of  ten  or  eleven  he  first  saw  a  manual 
alphabet,  which  he  used  ever  afterward  with  great  satisfaction. 
He  was  trained  to  church-going,  and  it  was  his  habit  to  sit  near 
the  organ,  his  delight  in  music  being  "  beyond  description." 

Arrowsmith  was  probably  the  first  to  suggest  that  the  co- 
education of  deaf  and  hearing  children  would  be  advantageous 
to  both  classes,  the  latter  gaining  intensified  impressions  through 
the  use  of  the  sign-language,  of  which  Arrowsmith  became  a 
partisan.  After  the  education  of  his  brother  was  accomplished 
he  met  with  the  translation  of  De  l'Epee's  treatise  into  English 
by  an  American,  Francis  Green.  He  reprinted  nearly  the  whole 
of  this  work  as  a  guide  for  the  advanced  teaching  of  deaf-mutes. 

Arrowsmith  was  strenuously  opposed  to  the  British  Institu- 
tions and  severe  in  his  strictures  upon  the  avarice  of  the  in- 
structors of  the  deaf  who  taught  articulation,  in  his  opinion, 
for  the  sake  of  "  dazzling  the  ignorant  with  their  quackery." 

Despite  the  narrowness  and  crudeness  of  his  views,  his  work 
embraces  certain  excellent  ideas  and  is  of  special  value  as  an 
account  of  an  original  experiment  conducted  by  persons  with 
little  or  no  previous  knowledge  of  the  art.  Though  his  brother 
became  an  artist  and  had  great  educational  and  social  ad- 
vantages, his  command  of  language  was  so  imperfect  that  this 
fact  alone  must  have  weighed  heavily  against  the  acceptance  of 
the  author's  theories. 

William  Comeb,  a  philanthropic  gentleman  deeply  impressed 
by  the  ideas  of  Arrowsmith,  sought  out  four  deaf  children  and 
placed  them  in  one  of  the  common  schools  of  Liverpool.  In 
the  course  of  six  months  these  children  had  been  taught  the 
use  of  the  manual  and  printed  alphabets,  to  spell  most  common 
short  words,  to  know  the  names  and  uses  of  many  common  ob- 
jects, and  to  write.  Considering  it  impracticable  to  advance 
much  further  in  this  way,  Mr.  Comer  abandoned  this  experi- 
ment, and,  in  1825,  established  a  separate  day-school.  Through 
the  first  year  of  the  new  school  a  few  hearing  children  were 
associated  with  the  deaf  pupils.  In  the  second  year  a  daily 
dinner  was  provided  for  the  pupils  at  the  school,  and,  by  de- 
grees, this  school  has  developed  into  the  Liverpool  Institution 
of  to-day,  about  one-third  of  whose  pupils  are  day  scholars. 

Mr.  Alfred  Large,  head  of  the  deaf-mute  institution  which 
forms  a  part  of  Donaldson's  Hospital,  Edinburgh,  commends 
the  practice  of  that  institution  of  associating  deaf  and  hearing 
children  outside  of  the  class-rooms  in  work  and  play. 

The  Rev.  "William  Stainer  has  organized  under  the  auspices 
of  the  School  Board  of  London  eight  day-schools  or  "  centres  of 
instruction."     These  schools  are  under  the  energetic  and  able 


38 

supervision  of  Mr.  Stainer,  and  his  experience  is  of  peculiar 
value.  He  draws  his  teachers  largely  from  two  training  "col- 
leges "  for  teachers  of  the  deaf  by  the  oral  method,  and  he  has 
adopted  the  oral  system  so  far  as  practicable.  He  commenced, 
in  1874,  with  a  strong  desire  to  "  mix  up  "  deaf  and  hearing 
children  as  much  as  possible.  Finding  it  impracticable  to  have 
them  in  the  same  rooms,  the  deaf  children  were  placed  under 
special  teachers  in  little  class-rooms  in  the  same  schools  with 
other  children.  Mr.  Stainer  remarks  that  on  the  play-ground 
they  "seem  to  mix,  but  they  are  not  assimilated;"  "the  deaf 
children  do  not,  up  to  the  present  time,  freely  associate  and 
assimilate  with  other  children ;"  "  at  the  present  time  I  freely 
confess  that  their  power  of  speech  is  insufficient  to  enable  them 
to  communicate  with  the  other  children." 

Mr.  Stainer,  in  describing  his  smallest  "  centre,"  reveals  the 
great  drawback  to  efficient  instruction  in  very  small  schools,  due 
to  the  impossibility  of  proper  classification.  At  this  centre  there 
are  twelve  pupils  and  one  teacher.  The  oral  system  is  practised 
exclusively.  The  pupils  are  from  4  to  15  years  old.  Two  by 
far  the  most  advanced  are  "deaf,  not  dumb,"  retaining  natural 
speech ;  two  others  were  "  dumb,  not  deaf,"  retaining  "  vowel 
hearing "  and  needing  aural  training  ;  two  others  are  congeni- 
tally  deaf,  one  of  them  very  bright  and  capable  but  unclassified, 
and  the  other  requiring  extraordinary  attention  to  produce  any 
satisfactory  result ;  the  remainder  are  infants  of  different  stages. 
Simultaneous  teaching  in  such  a  class  is  impossible,  and  indi- 
vidual teaching  for  the  most  part  is  necessary;  hence  pupils 
needing  instruction  at  least  two  hours  a  day  barely  receive  two 
hours  a  week. 

Mr.  Stainer  has  established,  partly  at  his  own  expense,  four 
(or  five)  "  homes  "  *  in  connection  with  his  schools,  without 
which,  he  says,  he  could  not  have  reached  more  than  half 
of  his  pupils.  These  homes,  originally  intended  for  pupils  from 
Mondays  to  Fridays  only,  from  necessity  have  received  "  per- 
manent "  boarders.  One-half  of  all  the  pupils  are  in  the  homes, 
and  three-fourths  of  these  are  "  permanent "  boarders.  The 
temporary  boarders  spend  about  two  and  a  half  days  each  week 
at  their  parents'  homes,  and  Mr.  Stainer  considers  this  a  great 
advantage  in  many  cases.  He  says,  however,  of  children  com- 
posing such  schools  as  these  in  London  and  Boston,  that  they 
"  cannot  fairly  be  compared  with  children  sent  to  a  boarding- 
school,  where  they  are  surrounded,  in  the  large  majority  of 
cases,  with  much  more  favorable  conditions  than  in  their  own 
homes." 

The  School-Board  of  Birmingham  voted  some  time  ago  to 
establish  a  day-school  on  the  plan  of  the  London  School-Board, 
and  sent  a  committee  to  inquire  into  details.     This  committee, 

*  The  essential  importance  of  these  Homes  is  forcibly  set  forth  in  Dr. 
Buxton's  letter  in  the  London  Times,  Oct.  17,  quoted  in  the  Annals,  Jan., 
1885,  vol.  xxx,  p.  76-7. 


on  January  15th,  1885,  reported  that  "  whatever  success  was  ob- 
tained in  these  schools  was  largely  due  to  the  fact  that  most  of 
the  children  resided  in  the  special  '  homes,'  whereby  they  were 
under  a  continuous  system  of  instruction ;  and  that  the  great 
amount  of  time  required  to  teach  deaf-mutes  to  articulate  pre- 
cluded the  possibility  of  imparting  any  considerable  amount  of 
education  of  the  kind  usually  given  in  Board  Schools ;  the  sys- 
tem would  be  too  expensive,  even  supposing  it  were  successful, 
for  Birmingham.  As  the  teaching  without  any  control  over  the 
children  out  of  school  might  result  unsatisfactorily,  and  as  the 
system  was  too  expensive,  it  was  thought  advisable  to  place  the 
children  in  some  such  institution  as  the  one  at  Edgbaston." 
Whereupon  the  Board  voted  "  that  Minute  4853  should  be 
suspended  ;  that,  if  possible,  the  deaf  should  be  educated  in 
special  institutions ;  and  that  application  should  be  made  to 
the  Education  Department  to  pay  the  whole  cost  of  education 
and  maintenance  in  the  case  of  indigent  children." 

In  the  United  States  no  recorded  experiments*  in  associated 
education  have  been  made,  but  the  extern  at  or  day-school  with 
its  hearing  environment  has  had  extensive  trial.  The  New 
York,  Philadelphia,  and  Western  Pennsylvania  Institutions 
have  grown  from  day-schools.  The  first  named  was  a  day- 
school  for  eleven  years.  Many  centres  of  population  can  afford 
only  day-schools  at  present ;  but,  in  the  light  of  experience,  it 
would  be  wise  for  their  promoters  to  regard  these  either  as  in- 
cipient and  crescive  institutions  or  as  preparatory  schools,  doing 
preliminary  work  for  thoroughly  organized  institutions. 

The  "Horace  Mann"  and  the  Portland  schools  are  examples 
of  oral  day-schools  of  unquestioned  excellence,  but  their  ef- 
ficiency is  impaired  by  inherent  vices  of  organization.  Ouly 
58  per  cent,  of  the  Boston,  and  six  children,  or  15  per  cent.,  of 
the  Portland  pupils  reside  in  those  cities.  "  Correspondence 
with  parents,  selection  of  boarding  places,  hearing  complaints, 
looking  after  treatment,  caring  for  health,  clothing,  and  other 
material  needs  "  form  a  part,  only,  of  the  principal's  duties.  Mr. 
Tash,  Superintendent  of  the  Portland  City  Schools,  remarks : 
"  The  constant  care  of  these  unfortunate  pupils,  the  most  of  them 
away  from  their  homes,  and  all  of  them  cut  off  from  the  ordi- 
nary means  of  communication  with  others,  falls  heavily  upon 

*  The  lamented  David E.  Babtlett  (1805-1879)  opened  a  private  "family 
school"  in  1852  to  demonstrate  the  advantage  of  the  early  instruction  of 
deaf  children,  and  the  success  of  his  experiment  led  many  schools  to  ad- 
mit pupils  at  six  or  eight  years  of  age  instead  of  ten  or  twelve  years. 

Incidentally  Mr.  Bartlett  was  led  to  receive  a  number  of  young  hearing 
children,  generally  relatives  of  his  deaf  pupils,  many  of  whom  became 
proficient  in  the  use  of  the  colloquial  language  of  signs,  thus  making 
'  •  genuine  comradeship "  practicable,  and  it  is  highly  probable  that  the 
beneficial  results  of  association  in  this  case  have  never  been  surpassed,  if 
equalled,  by  any  other  single  experiment.  It  is  a  matter  of  regret  that 
the  details  of  this  experiment  have  not  been  recorded,  and  it  is  hoped 
that  this  note  may  call  out  useful  reminiscences  from  certain  of  Mr.  Bart- 
lett's  former  pupils. 


40 

the  principal  of  this  school."  The  State  of  Maine  appropriates 
$200.00  for  each  pupil  in  attendance,  the  former  rate  of  $175.00 
having  been  found  insufficient. — For  an  able  discussion  of  the 
day-school  question  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  Annals,  vol. 
xxvii,  pp.  182-187. 

In  the  period  under  review  we  find  that  educators  with  a 
genius  for  their  art  have  striven  to  furnish  practical  systems, 
methods,  and  devices  to  accomplish  the  education  of  the  deaf 
in  association  with  hearing  children ;  and  that  teachers,  full  of 
that  faith  which  removes  mountains,  have  toiled  to  accomplish 
the  task.  We  note  the  ability,  intelligence,  and  zea.1  of  the  pro- 
moters of  these  schemes  and  render  homage  to  their  worth,  while 
we  try  to  profit  by  their  experience.  The  desires  of  parents, 
the  sympathies  of  philanthropists,  and  the  power  of  govern- 
ments have  been  enlisted  in  favor  of  these  endeavors.  But 
disappointment  and  failure  have  so  uniformly  followed  the  at- 
tempted extension  and  adaptation  of  the  common-school  sys- 
tem to  the  needs  of  deaf  children  that,  in  Europe,  all  systematic 
and  organized  efforts  in  this  direction  have  been  abandoned ; 
and,  in  general,  the  education  of  the  deaf  has  been  confided  to 
small  groups  of  associated  and  trained  specialists  forming  the 
nuclei  of  the  hundreds  of  more  or  less  thoroughly  organized 
and  equipped  institutions  which  have  come  into  being  without 
preconcert,  unsought  and  unheralded. 

Bearing  in  mind  the  limitations  of  the  historical  method,  the 
writer  feels  justified  in  setting  down  as  demonstrated  by  ex- 
perience, though  the  underlying  facts  may  not  all  be  set  forth 
in  this  paper,  the  following  conclusions : 

First.  That  the  complete  and  satisfactory  education  of  chil- 
dren who  have  never  heard,  in  the  same  classes  with  hearing 
children  and  by  the  same  teachers,  has  never  been  accom- 
plished. 

Second.  That  "mixed"  schools  with  separate  classes  under 
the  same  teachers  involve  a  waste  of  time  to  both  classes  and 
overtask  the  teachers. 

Third.  That  deaf  children  prepared  by  private  and  special 
instruction  to  join  the  regular  classes  in  public  schools,  with- 
out detriment  to  themselves  or  to  their  classmates,  rarely  need 
common-school  instruction,  because  in  gaining  the  knowledge 
of  language  and  readiness  of  communication  sufficient  for  this 
purpose  they  have  incidentally  accomplished  the  essential  work 
of  the  common  school. 

Fourth.  That  the  theoretical  advantages  of  an  environment 
of  hearing  persons  have  never  been  realized  in  practice.  Chil- 
dren deaf  from  infancy  have  so  little  command  of  language  that 
they  can  associate  with  other  children  only  upon  very  unequal 
terms.  In  any  case,  those  who  need  the  assumed  benefits  of 
association  the  most  receive  the  least  from  it.  The  risk  of 
moral  injury  is  very  great.  To  secure  any  good  result  from 
association,  the  hearing  environment  must  be  selected  and 
guarded  with  extraordinary  care.     The  greatest  benefit  real- 


4:1 

ized  has  been  from  the  limited  association  encouraged  by  cer- 
tain favorably  situated  institutions. 

Fifth.  That  the  fair  results  obtained  outside  of  special 
schools  have  been  very  rare  and  under  exceptional  and  extraor- 
dinary circumstances. 

Sixth.  That  the  satisfactory  instruction  of  the  deaf  requires 
teachers  having  special  fitness,  special  knowledge,  and  special 
training.  No  satisfactory  system  has  been  wrought  out  for 
ensuring  a  sufficient  supply  of  efficient  teachers  for  the  existing 
organizations.  The  art  of  instructing  the  deaf  has  been  simpli- 
fied, but  the. educational  standard  has  been  raised,  thus  making 
it  more  difficult  than  heretofore  to  secure  thoroughly  compe- 
tent instructors. 

Seventh.  That  parents  can  establish  means  of  communication 
with  their  deaf  children,  too  often  isolated  in  the  midst  of  a 
hearing  environment,  and  they  should  be  encouraged  to  begin 
their  education,  especially,  their  moral  training. 

Eighth.  That  public-school  teachers  can  be  readily  qualified 
to  render  valuable  assistance  in  the  early  stages  of  instruction. 
Deaf  children  may  learn  habits  of  neatness,  order  and  obedience, 
to  use  the  pen  and  pencil,  to  count,  and  to  comprehend  com- 
mon words  with  a  little  special  attention ;  but  the  experiment 
should  not  be  undertaken  unless  the  moral  atmosphere  is  such 
that  the  teacher  can  secure  kind  and  sympathetic  treatment  of 
the  deaf  children  from  their  school-mates.  It  would  be  ad- 
vantageous to  the  special  schools  if  this  preliminary  work  were 
seriously  undertaken  by  the  public  schools. 

Ninth.  That  many  of  the  educated  deaf  have  a  remarkable 
facility  in  awakening  the  minds  of  deaf  children,  and  such  per- 
sons, properly  selected,  may  often  be  employed  with  great  ad- 
vantage in  home  and  preliminary  instruction. 

Tenth.  That  "day-schools"  or  extemats,  whether  special 
schools  alongside  of  public  schools  or  entirely  separate  from 
them,  are  not  so  efficient  as  the  better  class  of  thoroughly  organ- 
ized institutions,  many  of  which  have  grown  out  of  day-schools. 

Eleventh.  That  special  institutions  remain  a  necessity  for  the 
great  mass  of  deaf  children,  and  they  continue  to  offer  superior 
results,  with  the  greatest  economy  of  time,  money  and  men. 
And  this  is  true,  regardless  of  methods,  systems,  or  devices  of 
instruction. 

DISCUSSION. 

President  Gallaudet.  Mention  was  made  of  the  fact  before 
the  reading  of  Professor  Gordon's  paper  that  there  were  present 
a  number  of  heads  of  institutions  from  various  parts  of  the 
country.  These  ladies  and  gentlemen  have  recently  been  in 
conference  at  Faribault,  Minnesota.  I  am  sure  the  audience  will 
be  interested  to  hear  some  words  from  a  gentleman  who  stands 
alone  in  this  country  as  one  who  has  had  charge  of  a  large  and 
important  school  for  the  deaf  during  the  period  of  an  entire  gen- 
eration. I  therefore  call  with  great  pleasure  upon  Dr.  Philip  G. 
Gillett,  superintendent  of  the  Illinois  Institution  for  the  Deaf, 


42 

who  enjoys  the  honor  of  having  conducted  a  large  and  pros- 
perous school  for  the  deaf  for  thirty  years. 

Dr.  Philip  G.  Gillett,  superintendent  of  the  Illinois  Insti- 
tution for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb.  Mr.  Chairman,  I  am  certainly 
very  much  obliged  to  you  for  the  manner  in  which  you  have 
introduced  me  to  this  audience.  I  have  been  thinking  while 
sitting  here  that  two  years  ago  I  had  the  pleasure  of  sitting  in 
this  hall  as  a  member  of  the  convention  called  by  the  various 
boards  of  charity  of  the  United  States.  Little  did  I  suppose 
at  that  time  that  in  two  years  I  should  see  such  a  magnificent 
assembly  of  educators  brought  together  in  this  very  same  room 
to  consider,  as  that  board  of  charities  did,  the  subject  of  the 
education  of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  and  I  have  been  thinking,  Mr. 
Chairman,  that  there  are  very  few  portions  of  the  community  in 
whom  so  much  interest  is  taken  as  these  who  are  spoken  of 
here  this  afternoon.  The  boards  of  charity  claim  them  and 
the  boards  of  education  claim  them,  and  it  has  come  about  in 
the  State  of  Illinois  that,  as  superintendent  of  the  institution 
for  the  deaf  and  dumb,  I  have  been  for  several  years  under  the 
necessity  of  making  official  reports  to  both  departments.  Now, 
I  expect,  if  any  departments  of  the  State  government  should 
come  to  co-operate  with  the  educational  and  the  charitable,  that 
perhaps  when  we  get  all  the  departments  of  the  State  govern- 
ment combined  in  one,  and  all  our  hands  working  together,  and 
all  our  hearts  beating  together,  perhaps  we  may  find  some 
better  method  than  any  we  have  found  yet.  It  is  true  that  I 
have  been  for  more  than  thirty  years  trying  to  find  the  best 
way  of  teaching  the  deaf  and  dumb,  and  I  know  of  no  more 
interesting  text  that  might  be  taken  from  Scripture  upon  such 
an  occasion  as  this  than  that  which  reads,  "  And  yet  show  1  you 
a  more  excellent  way.r  I  have  been  looking  for  that  more  ex- 
cellent way.  I  have  visited  more  than  forty  institutions  for 
the  deaf  and  dumb  in  this  country,  and  I  have  found  no  means 
proposed  for  the  better  success  in  the  education  of  deaf-mutes 
that  I  have  not  tried,  and  I  say  here  to-day,  that  if  any  man  will 
show  any  method  of  bringing  about  a  greater  success  in  the 
education  of  these  persons,  I  am  willing  to  lay  down  anything  I 
now  have,  anything  I  have  had  in  the  past,  and  take  hold  of 
anything  that  promises  to  lead  to  better  results.  I  was  very 
much  delighted  at  the  convention  of  articulation  teachers  in 
the  city  of  New  York  about  three  years  ago,  to  hear  Mr.  Green- 
berger,  whom  many  of  you  know,  and  who  is  recognized,  I  sup- 
pose, as  the  most  prominent  teacher  of  articulation  in  America, 
a  German  himself,  promise  us  that  we  should  have  an  American 
system  for  instructing  deaf-mutes  to  speak. 

I  was  glad  to  hear  him  say  that,  because  he  had  brought  the 
German  method  and  introduced  it  into  American,  and  he  said 
explicitly  and  unequivocally  that  the  German  method  was  not 
satisfactory,  and  I  am  here  to  stand  in  the  face  of  this  experience 


43 

of  thirty  years  to  say  that  I  am  not  satisfied  with  the  experi- 
ence of  the  sign  method,  but  I  am  compelled  as  an  honest  man 
to  take  the  best  system  I  can  find  for  the  greater  number  of 
persons  and  adopt  all  systems  as  far  as  I  can,  and  suit  them  to 
the  various  cases,  as  they  come  up  and  present  themselves  from 
time  to  time.  The  questions  that  have  been  brought  before  this 
convention  cover  a  very  wide  scope  and  are  of  great  interest  to 
discuss,  but  I  came  here  to  listen  and  hear,  with  the  hope  that 
I  might  get  some  suggestions  to  carry  home  that  would  help  me 
to  make  the  institution  with  which  I  am  connected  more  efficient 
and  more  effective,  helping  it  to  produce  better  results  and 
contribute  more  to  the  amelioration  of  the  condition  of  this 
unfortunate  class  of  persons. 

Eev.  Dr.  Thomas  Gallaudet,  of  St.  Ann's  Church,  New  York. 
We  are  to  aim  for  facts.  I  suppose  there  is  no  person  here  who 
can  speak  from  personal  experience  as  to  the  use  of  the  sign- 
language  better  than  myself.  It  is  second  nature  to  me.  I 
turn  from  speech  to  signs  without  any  difficulty.  The  point  I 
make  is  one  I  want  all  educators  of  deaf-mutes  to  follow  up  to 
see  what  there  is  in  it.  It  is  the  sound  of  the  human  voice  that 
produces  the  inner  thrill  of  the  life ;  you  cannot  substitute  any- 
thing for  it  in  the  education  of  hearing  children.  The  mother 
begins  with  the  sound  of  the  human  voice.  It  is  not  the  mere 
words  we  happen  to  use  in  the  artificial  English  language ;  it  is 
not  the  grammatical  construction  ;  it  is  not  the  printed  form  ; 
it  is  the  sound  of  the  human  voice  which  goes  on  year  after 
year,  from  father  and  mother,  and  elder  brother  and  sister, 
teacher  and  pastor,  here  and  there.  It  is  the  sound  of  the  hu- 
man voice  that  is  associated  with  all  these  words  of  the  Eng- 
lish language.  Half  of  the  people  move  their  lips  when  they 
read  the  newspapers.  They  do  not  get  the  meaning  of  these 
words  unless  they  think  of  the  sound.  How  much  does  it  add 
to  the  interest  of  a  letter  coming  from  a  dear  friend  when  you 
have  heard  that  friend's  voice !  If  you  have  never  seen  him,  if 
you  have  never  heard  his  voice,  you  get  the  idea,  but  when  you 
know  his  voice  there  is  a  rich  meaning  added  to  those  words. 
Now,  I  say,  here  is  a  class  of  our  fellow-citizens  whom  we  all  love, 
whom  our  Heavenly  Father  has  deprived  of  hearing.  They  do 
not  know,  and  they  never  can  know,  the  effect  of  the  sound  of 
the  human  voice  on  the  inner  life.  Whatever  method  you  may 
devise  you  cannot  substitute  the  motion  of  the  lips  for  the  effect 
of  that  sound ;  you  cannot  substitute  a  manual  alphabet ;  you 
cannot  substitute  pictures ;  you  cannot  substitute  the  use  of  ob- 
jects or  action,  but  you  must  have  a  sign,  and  we  who  have  used 
signs  all  our  lives  know  how  associations  cluster  around  this  lan- 
guage of  motion,  as  they  cluster  around  the  language  of  the  hu- 
man voice.  I  want  educators  to  take  up  that  point  and  to  work 
at  the  sign-language  to  see  if  we  can  improve  it  and  make  it 
more  effective.  We  desire  to  have  our  deaf-mute  friends  write 
the  English  language  and  read  the  English  language.     I  differ 


44: 

from  my  friend  Professor  Bell  in  my  experience;  the  greater 
portion  of  them  do  read  fche  English  language.  My  wife  is  a 
deaf-mute  from  birth,  and  she  gets  very  much  more  out  of  the 
morning  paper  than  I  do ;  she  reads  and  knows  what  is  going 
on  in  the  world.  There  is  a  richness  in  this  sign-language  in 
moral  and  spiritual  culture,  in  social  relations  and  otherwise. 
It  may  lead  to  marriages.  We  must  do  what  we  can  for  the 
greatest  good  of  the  greatest  number.  I  want  facts  in  this  case, 
but  I  feel  impelled  to  throw  out  this  single  thought :  We  have 
perfected  this  sign-language  to  a  great  extent  and  we  may  do 
something  more  with  it.  The  analogy  is  between  the  motion 
to  the  eyes  of  the  deaf  and  the  language  of  sound  to  the  ears  of 
those  who  hear. 

President  Gallaudet.  I  thank  my  friend,  Dr.  Gillett,  for  his 
kind  suggestion.  It  would  be  hardly  becoming  in  me  as  presid- 
ing officer  of  this  meeting  to  take  much  time  when  I  have  said 
that  an  opportunity  would  be  offered  for  discussion.  We  have 
just  had  a  meeting  at  Faribault  where  the  discussion  was  so 
active  and  so  incessant,  and  there  was  so  much  to  be  said, 
that  we  ground  away  at  our  work  there  for  four  mortal  days, 
from  morning  to  noon  and  from  noon  to  dewy  eve,  and  even 
then  we  had  not  exhausted  our  topics,  and  members  of  the  con- 
ference rose  and  said  they  had  speeches  of  hours  in  length  ready 
to  come  bubbling  forth,  and  it  seemed  as  though  they  never 
would  finish  talking  on  this  subject  of  the  education  of  the  deaf. 
I  think  you  hardly  know  what  you  are  asking  when  you  ask  me 
to  speak  on  the  education  of  the  deaf,  because  I  should  have  to 
say  as  I  did  at  Faribault,  that  here  at  this  late  hour  I  have  a 
speech  of  about  three  hours  ready  for  delivery.  I  am  sure  you 
do  not  want  to  hear  it,  but  the  subject  is  so  interesting  and  so 
engrossing,  I  suppose,  to  those  who  become  engaged  in  the 
work,  that  we  are  carried  away  with  enthusiasm.  I  will,  how- 
ever, limit  myself  to  a  few  minutes,  for  I  am  certain  that  Mr. 
Bell  has  much  more  to  say  than  he  has  already  said,  and  I  should 
be  very  sorry  to  take  your  time  and  deprive  him  of  the  oppor- 
tunity. 

Dr.  A.  Graham  Bell.  I  am  taking  notes  of  what  is  said  by 
others,  with  the  object  of  answering,  before  we  adjourn,  any 
objections  that  may  be  made  to  the  scheme  that  I  have  pre- 
sented. 

President  Gallaudet.  I  have  listened  with  a  great  deal  of 
interest  to  the  presentation  of  this  subject  of  the  education  of 
the  deaf  in  the  common  schools,  and  I  hope  those  who  have  so 
honored  the  subject  as  to  give  their  attention  for  these  hours 
this  afternoon  will  carry  away  with  them  this  one  thought :  that 
it  has  been  shown  in  other  countries  than  our  own  that  the 
teaching  of  deaf  children  in  ordinary  schools,  for  the  purpose 
of  preparation  for  the  more  careful,  more  judicious,  and  more 


45 

competent  special  education  of  the  schools  that  are  to  come 
after,  is  successful.  Beyond  this,  in  the  light  of  history,  I 
think  we  should  hesitate  to  go,  and  I  feel  satisfied  that  it 
has  not  been  demonstrated  that  the  work  of  educating  the 
deaf-mute  can  be  completely  perfected  in  schools  where  this 
combination  is  made  use  of,  of  classes  for  the  deaf  in  schools 
for  the  hearing ;  but,  ladies  and  'gentlemen,  there  are,  in 
considering  this  whole  matter  of  the  education  of  the  deaf, 
several  points  which  are  worthy  of  remark — certain  errors  which 
I  believe  exist  in  many  minds,  and  I  will  venture  to  call  your 
attention  to  a  few  of  these  errors,  the  existence  and  general 
acceptance  of  which  I  believe  to  be  hurtful  to  the  general  cause 
of  the  education  of  the  deaf. 

The  first  error  is,  that  all  deaf  children  can  be  successfully 
taught  to  talk  and  read  from  the  lips.  This  is  an  idea  that 
is  abroad  in  the  community ;  I  might  say  that  it  has  been  the 
ignis  fatuus  of  many  teachers  of  the  deaf  for  the  past  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years,  and  the  admitted  failure  to  accomplish 
this  result  in  many  countries  has  been  variously  accounted  for. 
I  have  heard  a  most  able,  zealous,  and  enthusiastic  teacher 
of  the  deaf  in  Holland,  when  asked  why  it  was  that  not  all 
his  pupils  learned  to  speak  and  read  from  the  lips  success- 
fully, say  that  it  was  owing  either  to  the  ignorance  or  the  stu- 
pidity or  the  laziness  of  his  teachers.  I  desire  to  raise  my 
voice  in  vindication  of  the  great  class  of  teachers  of  the  deaf 
against  any  such  charges.  The  truth  simply  lies  in  this,  that 
while  deafness  is  a  single  calamity,  yet  the  ability  to  rise  above 
that  calamity  or  to  acquire  speech  and  the  power  of  lip-reading 
is  not  given  to  all  upon  whom  that  calamity  has  fallen.  The  ex- 
perience of  many  years  has  proved  this  ;  we  must  not  raise  our 
expectations  too  high  ;  we  must  not  be  disappointed  if  many  of 
the  deaf  do  not  learn  to  speak  well  or  learn  to  read  from  the 
lips  well. 

The  second  error  is,  that  oral  schools  are  ready  to  receive 
and  teach,  as  far  as  their  capacity  will  allow,  all  deaf  chil- 
dren seeking  admission.  This  is  not  the  fact.  Oral  schools 
desire  to  have  such  pupils  as  will  succeed.  They  do  not  wish 
to  receive  or  retain  such  pupils  as  their  teachers  think  are  likely 
to  fail  to  acquire  speech,  and  in  proof  of  this  I  have  only  to  say 
that  in  the  primary  department  of  the  institution  with  which  I 
have  the  honor  to  be  connected  in  Washington,  there  are  at  this 
time  two  pupils,  one  of  whom  was  refused  admission  at  one  of 
the  very  first  and  the  most  prominent  of  the  oral  schools  in  this 
country,  because  the  head  of  that  school,  after  examination  of 
the  pupil,  deemed  that  he  would  not  be  able  to  succeed  in  speech, 
and  the  other  was  refused  admission  to  another  of  the  most 
prominent  of  the  oral  schools  in  the  country,  because  the  head 
of  that  school  believed  that  the  parents  of  the  child  would  ex- 
pect more  than  it  was  thought  possible  could  be  done  for  the 
child  in  the  matter  of  his  education.     These  two  pupils  have 


46 

been  making  good  progress,  not  only  in  their  mental  develop- 
ment, but  in  speech.  And  the  one  boy  that  has  been  several 
years  in  the  institution  at  Washington,  who  was  refused  ad- 
mission because  the  head  of  the  oral  school  thought  he  could 
not  learn  to  speak,  is  being  taught  to  speak  in  a  school  where 
the  combined  system  is  used. 

The  third  error  that  I  would  mention  is,  that  the  best  re- 
sults in  articulation  and  the  use  of  verbal  language  cannot 
be  attained  in  schools  for  the  deaf  where  the  sign-language 
is  employed.  This  error  I  know  is  a  very  common  one,  and 
it  has  been  proposed  in  your  hearing  this  afternoon  that  the 
use  of  the  sign-language  should  be  abolished.  I  beg  leave  to 
state,  as  a  mere  matter  of  fact,  that  in  different  examinations 
that  I  have  made  in  Europe  and  this  country  during  a  number 
of  years,  I  have  found  results  in  speech,  in  lip-reading,  and  in 
general  education,  in  schools  where  signs  are  used,  undeniably 
equal  to  the  best  results  found  in  the  oral  schools.  It  is  with 
pleasure  that  I  say  that  during  a  recent  trip  in  the  Southern 
States,  where  educational  development  is  supposed  to  be  not 
as  forward  as  in  many  other  portions  of  the  country,  I  found  a 
number  of  schools  for  the  deaf,  old  in  years,  into  which  instruc- 
tion in  articulation  had  been  recently  introduced,  where  the  re- 
sults in  speech  and  in  lip-reading,  although  signs  were  used 
freely,  were  equal  to  the  best  results  that  I  have  seen  in  the 
oral  schools  in  this  country. 

The  fourth  error  is,  that  it  is  possible  to  prevent  the  use  of 
signs  in  schools  for  the  deaf.  It  is  proposed,  ladies  and  gentle- 
men, to  banish  signs  from  schools  for  the  deaf.  There  are  many 
schools  in  regard  to  which  it  is  declared  by  their  heads  and  by 
their  teachers  that  signs  are  banished.  It  is  a  well-known  fact 
that  it  is  impossible  to  prevent  deaf  persons  from  using  signs 
where  they  are  together  in  any  school. 

A  recent  writer  has  well  said  that  an  attempt  to  banish  signs 
from  among  the  deaf  is  like  fighting  original  sin.  It  has  been 
found  to  be  a  fact  by  those  that  have  visited  schools  where  it  is 
said  that  signs  have  been  banished,  that  signs  are  seen  there 
to  be  in  constant  use  among  the  pupils  of  the  school,  and  I  re- 
member to  have  noticed  only  a  few  weeks  ago,  in  an  oral  school 
where  it  is  said  that  signs  are  banished,  an  incident  that  may 
amuse  you.  During  the  progress  of  the  Convention  that  was 
spoken  of  as  being  held  in  New  York,  some  pupils  entered  the 
room,  and,  without  being  aware  that  discussion  was  going  on,  be- 
gan talking  to  each  other,  one  reading  from  the  lips  of  the  other, 
as  they  were  in  duty  bound  to  do.  The  teacher,  a  little  dis- 
tant from  them,  noticed  these  children  talking  and  that  they 
were  disturbing  the  Convention,  and  the  teacher  spoke  to  the 
children  without  making  any  sound.  The  children  did  not  no- 
tice the  teacher.  Again  the  teacher  spoke,  but  the  children 
went  on  talking.  The  third  time  the  teacher  spoke  with  vigor 
in  signs,  and  the  children  stopped.  The  resort  to  the  sign-lan- 
guage was  successful  where  speech  had  failed. 


47 

Another  error  that  I  have  noted,  which  is  very  commonly  re- 
ceived, I  think,  in  the  community,  is  that  a  deaf-mute  educated 
under  the  oral  method  is  more  fully  restored  to  society  than  one 
that  is  educated  under  the  manual  method  and  has  no  speech. 
It  may  be  a  matter  of  surprise  that  I  note  this  as  an  error,  for  I 
have  heard  within  a  very  short  time  teachers  of  the  deaf  admit- 
ting that  those  persons  that  had  speech  and  lip-reading  were  far 
more  fully  restored  to  society  than  those  that  had  not  those  ac- 
complishments, and  I  want  in  this  connection  to  draw  a  very  nice 
distinction.  I  wish  to  speak  of  those  that  have  speech  and  lip- 
reading  and  use  no  signs  and  do  not  use  the  manual  alphabet, 
for  that  is  what  is  urged  in  their  behalf  by  those  who  wish  to  re- 
store these  people  to  society  by  the  oral  method,  and  to  compare 
these  with  other  deaf-mutes  who  have  no  speech  and  no  power 
to  read  from  the  lips,  but  use  signs,  and  who  use  the  manual 
alphabet  freely.  I  have  seen  these  two  classes  of  persons 
mingling  in  society.  I  have  seen  persons  that  depended  upon 
speech  and  lip-reading  entirety,  without  any  power  of  resorting 
to  the  manual  alphabet  or  signs,  converse  with  strangers  ;  I 
have  seen  the  conversation  flag  in  a  few  moments,  after  a  few 
common-places  had  been  passed.  I  have  seen  strangers  striv- 
ing to  make  themselves  understood  and  failing,  and  I  have  seen 
these  persons  far  more  isolated  in  society  than  others  with  whom 
I  have  been  equally  familiar,  who,  having  no  speech,  resorted  to 
that  definite  and  complete  means  of  communication — writing — 
who  have  the  manual  alphabet,  who  easily  teach  that  alphabet 
to  a  considerable  circle  of  friends,  and  who  have  in  those  means 
of  communication  more  certain,  more  definite,  more  satisfactory 
means  of  communicating  and  receiving  thought  than  in  any,  even 
the  best,  speech  and  lip-reading  that  has  ever  been  produced  in 
this  world.  I  speak  with  earnestness,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  be- 
cause this  is  a  point  where  the  manual  method  has  been  misrep- 
resented. In  my  own  experience  I  have  seen  far  more  free  social 
intercourse  among  deaf  persons  and  those  who  hear  and  speak 
where  the  deaf  persons  are  those  who  have  no  speech  and  no 
power  to  read  from  the  lips  than  with  those  who  have  those 
powers,  and  decline  to  use  signs  and  the  manual  alphabet.  I 
call  to  mind  a  trip  that  I  made  a  short  time  ago  upon  a  steamer 
going  from  Washington  to  Mount  Vernon.  On  the  steamer 
there  were  several  members  of  my  own  family.  There  were 
several  students  from  the  College  with  which  I  am  connected. 
There  was  a  lady  who  has  had  every  opportunity  that  any  one 
could  have  for  the  acquisition  of  speech  and  reading  from  the 
lips  Social  intercourse,  the  free  interchange  of  thought,  the 
flow  of  wit  and  repartee,  went  on  where  signs  and  the  manual 
alphabet  were  used  freely ;  and  I  asked  a  friend  of  this  lady 
who  had  declined,  during  many  years,  to  use  the  manual  alpha- 
bet, and  who  had  never  learned  to  use  signs,  whether  he  thought 
that  that  lady  ever  enjoyed  such  free  social  intercourse  in  the 
social  circle  as  did  the  young  men  that  were  enjoying  that  day 


48 

on  the  Mount  Vernon  excursion  with  the  manual  alphabet  and 
with  signs,  and  this  friend  of  the  lady  who  depended  upon 
speech  and  upon  lip-reading,  and  who  was  a  fine  speaker  and  a 
fine  lip-reader,  told  me  that  he  was  certain  that  she  had  never 
been  able  to  enjoy  through  the  means  of  speech  and  lip-reading 
such  heart-satisfying  social  intercourse  as  was  being  enjoyed  by 
those  who  used  the  manual  alphabet  and  signs.  And,  ladies  and 
gentlemen,  I  urge  most  earnestly  that  those  persons  that  reject 
the  manual  alphabet,  and  who  reject  signs  for  the  deaf  while 
they  are  giving  them  speech  and  lip-reading,  are  doing  them  a 
cruel  wrong,  in  this :  that  they  are  dooming  them  to  a  greater 
social  isolation  than  they  are  compelled  to  submit  to  who  have 
no  speech,  but  who  still  use  the  manual  alphabet  and  signs. 
There  is  an  element  of  sociability,  as  has  been  remarked  by 
one  of  the  speakers  a  little  while  ago,  in  the  language  of  signs. 
However  few  it  may  be  understood  by,  when  it  is  understood  it 
is  the  sole  and  single  substitute  for  the  language  of  tone — the 
language  that  imparts  the  tone  of  the  human  voice.  No  lip- 
reading  can  ever  be  to  the  deaf  what  sound  is  to  the  hearing ; 
but  the  language  of  gesture  is  to  the  deaf,  in  lectures,  in  social 
intercourse,  in  all  respects,  when  it  is  used,  the  sister  of  that  lan- 
guage with  which  we,  more  favored,  are  permitted  to  communi- 
cate with  each  other.     [Applause.] 

I  will  only  dwell  briefly  on  two  other  errors  that  I  have  no- 
ticed :  that  the  sign-language  is  an  imperfect  and  crude  means 
of  conveying  thought.  In  the  College  at  Washington  to  which 
I  have  referred,  with  which  I  am  connected,  it  is  common  for  us 
to  invite  the  presence  of  eminent  men  to  lecture  to  our  students. 
The  sign-language  is  the  means  of  translation.  These  gentle- 
men, so  invited,  stand  before  our  students  and  deliver  to  them 
lectures  of  engaging  interest,  of  deep  thought,  involving  wide 
research,  involving  scientific  terms  and  expressions,  which  are 
immediately  translated  to  the  deaf  young  men  that  are  con- 
nected with  this  College  In  our  schools  for  the  deaf  all  over 
the  country  lectures  are  given  on  many  subjects,  and  greatest, 
and  most  important  of  all,  on  subjects  of  morals  and  religion, 
where  the  sign-language  is  used  to  address  a  large  number,  and 
I  say,  without  fear  of  successful  contradiction,  that  in  no  way 
can  deaf  people  receive  the  impress  of  eloquent  speech  but 
through  the  language  of  gestures.  It  is  not  a  crude  language  ; 
it  conveys  all  thought.  It  has  been  used  for  a  century  in  this 
manner,  and  no  claim  that  can  now  be  made  at  this  late  day  of 
its  inefficiency  or  insufficiency  or  incapacity  will  avail  in  the 
minds  of  those  who  know  it  and  have  used  it.  In  the  Con- 
ference at  Faribault,  from  which  I  have  just  come,  I  met  a 
gentleman  who  has  been  many  years  there  a  teacher.  In  his 
early'  life  he  lost  his  hearing  almost  entirely.  He  hears  no  con- 
versation except  with  the  aid  of  a  very  strong  ear-trumpet.  He 
was  for  four  years  in  a  sign-school  in  New  England.  He  told 
me  in  Faribault  that  the  mental  stimulus  that  came  to  him 


49 

during  those  four  years  of  association  with  other  youth  and 
with  his  teachers,  where  the  sign-language  was  freely  used, 
were  worth  more  than  all  he  had  ever  learned  from  books — 
than  all  he  had  ever  learned  from  reading ;  not  the  sum  of 
knowledge  that  came  through  those  signs,  but  that  the  mental 
stimulus  was  worth  more. 

One  other  error  that  is  common  in  the  community  I  will  men- 
tion :  that  deaf-mutes  educated  under  the  oral  method,  and  who 
have  been  prohibited  signs,  will  not  associate  to  any  great  extent, 
after  leaving  school,  with  other  deaf-mutes.  It  has  been  urged  by 
our  able  and  distinguished  friend  that  deaf-mutes  should  be  segre- 
gated in  order  that  they  should  not  come  together  and  become 
associated  in  after-life  to  any  great  extent ;  that  marriages,  &c, 
should  be  prevented.  In  Germany,  where  the  oral  system  is 
taught,  where  small  schools,  as  far  as  possible,  are  made  use  of, 
and  where  the  attempt  is  made  very  earnestly  to  bring  deaf- 
mutes  into  the  attitude  of  speaking  and  lip-reading  people,  it  is 
a  well-known  fact  that  after  they  leave  their  schools  they  form 
deaf-mute  associations,  as  they  do  in  this  country ;  that  deaf- 
mute  marriages  are  common  there  ;  that  they  have  their  deaf- 
mute  papers,  and  they  form  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  a  com- 
munity among  themselves,  and,  although  the  use  of  signs  has 
been  sedulously  prohibited,  in  after-life  they  make  use  of  these 
signs  with  freedom  and  enjoyment.  I  had  noted  one  or  two 
other  points  which  I  had  thought  of  bringing  forward  at  this 
time  if  there  were  opportunity,  but  the  hour  is  slipping  by,  and 
I  will  take  no  more  time ;  but  I  wish  to  make  this  earnest  ap- 
peal to  these  friends  of  education  here  that  they  deliberate  long 
and  carefully  before  they  lend  the  weight  of  their  opinion  and 
their  effort  to  any  system  of  educating  the  deaf  which  banishes 
signs.  My  learned  friend  has  said  that  the  language  of  signs  is 
an  artificial  language.  I  venture  to  say  to  him  that  if  the  lan- 
guage of  signs  is  artificial,  then  every  lauguage  is  artificial. 
But  I  go  beyond  that ;  there  is  no  language  that  exists  among 
men  that  is  so  natural  and  so  spontaneous  as  the  language  of 
signs.  It  is  the  language  of  all  men.  It  is  the  language  of  all 
nations.  It  is  the  oldest  language  in  the  world,  and  it  may  be 
the  last  that  will  be  used.  It  is  a  language  that  is  in  very  little 
artificial.  It  is  a  language  that  is  far  more  natural  than  any  con- 
ventional language  that  we  have  in  words.  It  is  a  language  in 
pictures.  It  is  a  language  that  pictures  emotions.  It  does  not 
consist  of  dry  words,  made  up  of  arbitrary  letters  that  present 
no  idea  to  the  mind  only  when  that  mind  has  been  brought  into 
the  knowledge  of  that  word  by  previous  association.  The  lan- 
guage of  signs  may  be  presented  to  an  uneducated  deaf-mute, 
and  immediately,  without  any  instruction  in  it,  he  begins  to 
understand  it,  and  it  is  a  far  more  natural  language  than  any 
that  has  yet  been  devised  by  man.  While  I  would  not  be  less 
earnest  than  any  of  my  most  earnest  oral  friends  in  giving  speech 
and  lip-reading  to  the  deaf,  I  plead  earnestly  for  the  retention  in 


50 

all  schools  for  the  deaf  of  a  language  of  gestures.  The  attempt 
to  abolish  that  language  is  attended  by  moral  results  that  per- 
haps few  would  think  of.  An  attempt  to  abolish  signs  from  a 
school  for  the  deaf  is  an  incentive  to  immorality.  What  kind  of 
immorality,  do  you  ask?  It  is  an  incentive  to  concealment.  It 
is  an  incentive  to  deceit.  If  deaf  children  will  use  signs,  and  if 
that  use  has  been  prohibited  to  them,  then  they  feel  when  they 
are  so  doing  they  are  doing  wrong.  They  will  do  it  secretly. 
They  do  it  when  their  teachers  are  not  looking  on,  and  they  are 
actually  taught  deceit  by  being  prohibited  from  the  use  of 
signs.     [Applause.] 

Mr.  Paul  Binner,  principal  of  the  Milwaukee  Day-school  for 
Deaf  Children.  It  seems  to  me  that  some  of  the  terms  and  ex- 
pressions used  in  the  foregoing  remarks  are  liable  to  be  misun- 
derstood. When  the  oral  teacher  says  he  wants  no  sign-lan- 
guage, he  means  that  he  does  not  want  the  artificial,  systema- 
tized sign-language.  The  oral  teacher  teaches  no  signs.  But 
he  has  to  make  use  of  gestures  in  order  to  commuicate  with  his 
pupils.  No  oral  teacher  will  say  that  he  can  teach  without  using 
gestures.  It  is,  in  general,  the  only  medium  by  which  words 
can  be  explained  to  the  child.  But  when  the  pupil  has  learned 
the  word  for  the  gesture,  then  the  word  must  take  the  place  of 
the  gesture.  Thus  the  gesture-language  is  utilized  by  the  teacher 
of  the  oral  method  in  giving  the  pupil  spoken  language. 

It  was  not  quite  clear  to  me  whether  the  history  of  the  German 
schools  to  the  year  1828,  as  given  by  Prof.  Gordon,  was  intended 
to  prove  that  small  schools  were  favorable  to  the  education  of  the 
deaf,  or  whether  the  argument  meant  to  show  the  reverse.  It 
appears  to  me  that  the  gentleman's  remarks  related  especially 
to  the  co-education  of  the  deaf  with  hearing  children.  But  this 
would  have  no  bearing  upon  the  point  at  issue,  for  years  ago 
this  idea  has  been  shelved  by  the  German  schools,  and  it  is  now 
looked  upon  as  simply  ridiculous.  We  can  educate  deaf  children 
in  schools  where  hearing  children  are,  but  not  with  them.  In 
regard  to  day-schools  for  the  deaf,  I  advocate  the  following  plan : 
Select  a  room  or  rooms  in  a  school  building  occupied  by  hear- 
ing children,  the  deaf  pupils  must  be  taught  by  special  teachers, 
cultivate  the  association  of  the  deaf  with  the  hearing  pupils  on 
the  playground,  on  the  way  to  and  from  school.  But  only  the 
oral  method  can  fully  reap  the  benefit  arising  from  this  associa- 
tion with  hearing  children.  In  Germany,  as  well  as  in  our  coun- 
try, such  day-schools  have  been  tried  and  found  efficient. 

Dr.  Noyes,  superintendent  of  the  Minnesota  School  for  the 
Deaf.  I  have  a  word  or  two  to  add.  This  great  gathering  in 
Madison  undoubtedly  in  its  deliberations  is  aiming  towards  the 
best  interests  of  not  only  humanity  but  the  State,  and  the  moral 
elevation  of  the  children  and  youth  of  this  broad  land;  and 
the  teachers  and  officers  of  the  institutions  for  the  education 


51 

of  the  deaf  should  always  bear  that  point  in  mind.  We  claim 
rightly,  as  we  have  often  presented  to  legislative  bodies,  that 
throughout  this  land  there  is  a  useless  mass  of  material,  not 
only  useless,  but  in  many  cases  obnoxious  to  the  best  inter- 
ests of  the  State  and  the  community,  and  the  object  and  the 
aim  of  these  institutions  for  the  deaf  is  to  take  this  useless,  I 
might  say  base,  material — if  I  had  time  I  would  show  you  what 
I  mean  by  base  material — and  so  revolutionize  it  that  we  can — 
I  am  not  using  a  word  that  is  too  strong  when  I  say  create  for 
the  State  useful  citizens,  those  who  by  their  example  and  prin- 
ciples shall  adorn  society  and  be  useful  to  the  State.  It  is  not 
too  much  to  say  that  we  take  base  material  and  out  of  it  create — 
I  say  create,  not  in  its  primary  but  in  its  secondary  sense — create 
citizens.  And  if  I  had  time  I  would  illustrate  just  what  I 
mean.  Now  we  must  not  lose  sight  of  this  great  point.  The 
States  put  their  funds  into  these  noble  institutions.  They 
support  them  by  appropriations,  and  we  are,  as  honest  men,  as 
Christian  men  and  women,  in  duty  bound  to  render  back  to  the 
State  the  best  results  it  is  possible  for  us  to  give.  Now,  how 
are  we  going  to  do  it  ?  It  is  patent  to  the  mind  of  a  candid 
and  careful  observer  that  by  the  combined  method — I  mean 
emphatically  just  what  we  mean  in  this  country  by  the  com- 
bined method — we  can  render  back  to  the  State  and  to  the 
parents  better  results  than  any  of  our  oral  institutions,  as  a 
rule.  I  mean  by  that  we  can  open  our  doors  to  all  the  feeble- 
minded and  those  that  are  weak  and  those  that  are  the  most 
brilliant,  and  we  can  .show  just  as  good  results  in  our  combined 
schools  in  oral  instruction  as  any  oral  school  in  the  land.  We 
can  also  show  that  that  material  which  you  may  call  base  material, 
that  has  been  rejected  by  the  oral  schools,  we  have  taken,  and 
we  have  purified  it  and  lifted  it  and  turned  it  back  to  the  State 
useful,  and  ornamental,  if  you  please,  to  society.  We  can  prove 
it.  Now,  then,  as  to  the  point  of  expense,  the  point  of  what 
we  shall  render  back  to  the  State,  and  the  one  other — which 
I  will  only  allude  to — as  Christian  men  and  women  what  we 
shall  render  back  to  our  Maker.  Through  the  sign-language 
it  can  be  demonstrated  that  we  may  take  the  vilest  child  that 
comes  to  us,  and  we  can  begin  at  once  to  teach  it  morals.  Now  I 
want  to  give  you  just  one  illustration  of  what  I  mean.  I  have 
in  mind  a  girl  that  came  to  me.  Her  name  was  Mary.  On  her 
first  trip  to  the  institution  she  ran  away  from  her  father,  who 
left  her  for  a  few  moments  at  a  depot,  and  went  up  the 
railroad  track  for  home.  She  stopped  a  passenger  train.  It 
took  five  men  to  take  her  off  the  track  and  put  her  in  the 
buggy  and  lock  her  up  in  jail.  It  took  three  men  with  the 
assistance  of  the  sheriff,  who  was  a  man  that  weighed  two  hun- 
dred pounds  and  over,  to  lock  her  up  in  the  .  cell.  And  they 
telegraphed  to  me.  I  never  had  seen  the  child.  They  wanted 
to  know  if  a  crazy  deaf  child  had  run  away  from  the  institu- 
tion. She  had  not  been  there.  That  girl,  the  tenth  of  last 
June,  passed  the  best  examination  in  her  class.     She  is  clothed 


52 

in  her  right  mind,  and  her  father  is  willing  to  do  anything  to 
keep  that  girl  in  school;  anything  that  is  in  reason.  She  is 
bright,  and  as  promising  a  child  as  any  one  in  that  school  that 
has  been  there  the  same  length  of  time.  And  now,  how  did  I 
reach  her  ?  I  never  could  have  reached  that  child  one  twenty- 
fifth  part  of  what  I  did  by  the  oral  method.  The  first  time  I 
met  her  I  was  able  to  reach  her.  I  was  able  to  explain  to  her 
the  nature  of  her  error,  and  that  those  who  were  trying  to  re- 
strain her  were  her  friends,  and  it  was  not  a  week  before  she 
was  in  loving  embrace  with  the  little  girls  upon  the  play-ground, 
and  would  meet  me  with  a  smile  and  shake  hands.  I  say  that 
that  single  example  illustrates  the  power  of  the  sign-language 
to  reach  some  of  this  worthless,  I  said  base,  material ;  it  is  not 
too  strong  a  word  to  use,  and  if  the  sign-language  can  be  so 
used  to  elevate  and  enlighten  some  of  these  who  come  to  us 
when  the  oral  language  cannot  do  it,  shall  we,  in  the  name  of 
Christianity,  shall  we  in  the  name  of  our  Maker,  deny  them  of 
it !  We  have  schools  where  oral  instruction  is  given,  but  how 
little  moral  instruction !  We  have  schools  where  there  are  five 
or  six  hundred  deaf  children.  A  lecture  can  reach  every  child  in 
the  school.  It  is  the  sign-language  that  comes  in  contact  with 
the  lower  grades  of  intellect  and  renders  it  valuable.  I  do  not 
hesitate  to  say  before  this  audience  and  before  the  world  that  so 
long  as  it  is  necessary  to  put  up  a  staging  to  construct  a  build- 
ing, so  long  as  we  need  helps  to  accomplish  the  great  ends  and 
objects  of  life,  so  long  in  the  cause  of  deaf  education  we  shall 
need  the  sign-language.  We  do  not  teach  it  as  an  end.  We 
do  not  teach  it  as  an  accomplishment.  It  is  like  the  staging. 
When  our  building  is  complete  we  take  it  down.  When  a  child 
has  got  a  complete  knowledge  of  the  English  language  and  can 
use  it  freely  we  care  not  for  it.  But  in  order  to  give  it  that 
knowledge  we  need  it.  We  must  rely  upon  it.  We  must  have 
it,  that  we  may  render  back  to  the  State  and  to  our  Master  a 
proper  account,  and  we  must  have  it,  not  simply  as  an  accom- 
plishment, but  as  a  means  to  an  end. 

Mrs.  Parker.  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  study  with  Prof.  Bell 
eight  years  ago  in  the  Boston  University  School  of  Oratory,  and 
have  since  watched  with  a  great  deal  of  interest  the  results  ob- 
tained from  following  his  method.  During  the  past  six  months 
we  have  had  in  our  public  school  at  Normal  Park  a  little  'deaf 
boy,  who  has  gone  on  with  the  regular  classes.  He  can  under- 
stand the  other  children,  taking  part  in  all  their  games.  I  have 
had  some  opportunity  of  judging  of  the  practical  value  of  Prof. 
Bell's  method.  Articulation  being  a  part  of  my  work,  I  have 
naturally  watched  with  interest  this  experiment  of  placing  a 
totally  deaf  child  with  hearing  children  in  a  public  school.  I  have 
invariably  found  that  where  Willie  could  not  understand  it  was 
because  of  the  imperfect  articulation  of  those  trying  to  talk  to 
him,  the  consciousness  of  speaking  to  one  who  was  deaf,  and 
the  effort  to  be  distinct  distorting  the  speech.  He  could  invari- 
ably understand  those  whose  enunciation  was  good. 


53 

I  consider  it  of  the  greatest  benefit  to  hearing  children  to  be 
associated  with  the  deaf,  because  attention  would  then  be  drawn 
to  the  slovenly  articulation  so  prevalent,  the  curing  of  which, 
where  the  ear  is  deficient,  being  practically  the  same  as  that 
used  for  training  the  deaf. 

The  gentleman  emphasized  strongly  his  belief  that  oral  ex- 
pression is  unnatural,  gesture  being  the  "  natural  language  "  of 
the  deaf.  Voice  proper,  as  distinguished  from  articulate  voice 
or  speech,  and  gesture  are  the  only  two  natural  avenues  of  ex- 
pression which  man  has,  the  other  being  acquired  means  of  com- 
munication. 

But  all  that  man  can  acquire  is  still  inadequate  to  the  full  ex- 
pression of  the  expanding  soul  which  ever  craves  fuller  means 
of  expression.  That  deaf  children  have  no  defects  in  the  voice- 
producing  organs  is  a  well-proved  fact ;  that  they  desire  to  use 
the  voice,  and  do  use  it  until  prevented  or  discouraged,  is  also 
a  well-verified  fact.  The  gentlemen  here  have  dwelt  in  this  dis- 
cussion entirely  upon  voice  in  its  relation  to  sound  as  an  impres- 
sion. Is  it  not  possible  that  it  has  its  place  as  an  expression 
as  well  ?  That  as  a  factor  in  mind-development  no  other  lan- 
guage, however  perfect  in  its  way,  can  be  a  substitute. 

Putting  aside  that  fact,  looking  at  it  merely  as  a  means  of 
relief  to  the  feelings  when  the  heart  is  full  and  the  emotions 
tax  to  the  utmost  every  avenue  of  expression,  will  any  man  or 
woman  take  it  upon  himself  or  herself  to  say,  "  I  will  deprive 
these  children  of  this  God-given  faculty,  which,  with  a  little 
effort  on  our  part,  is  theirs  as  well  as  ours." 

Miss  McGowan,  whose  school  for  the  deaf  is  near  us,  brought 
the  children  under  her  charge  to  our  house.  They  were  out  on 
the  piazza  talking  with  one  of  my  family  ;  hearing  them  for  the 
first  time  I  never  dreamed  that  they  were  deaf,  their  inflections 
were  so  natural.  They  stayed  with  me  two  hours,  talking  of 
pictures  which  I  showed  them,  in  an  easy,  natural  manner,  un- 
derstanding me  perfectly,  and  in  no  way  indicating  that  their 
use  of  the  voice  was  in  any  way  abnormal. 

Mr.  E.  C.  Spencer,  president  of  the  Phonological  Institute  for 
the  Education  of  the  Deaf,  Milwaukee,  Wis.  I  do  not  wish  to 
take  up  the  time,  because  I  wish  to  hear  Prof.  Bell,  but  I  rise 
simply  to  state  one  fact  which  has  recently  come  to  my  knowl- 
edge in  relation  to  co-education,  a  point  which  has  been  under 
discussion.  A  former  classmate  of  mine  residing  in  Creston, 
Iowa,  having  an  only  child,  a  daughter,  who  early  lost  her  hear- 
ing and  her  speech,  was  taught  the  oral  method  and  returned 
to  the  schools  of  hearing  children  in  the  place  where  her  parents 
resided,  and  a  paper  which  I  received  from  him  a  few  days  ago 
contains  an  account  of  her  graduation  from  the  High  School  at 
that  place.  The  report  states  that  in  point  of  intellectual  de- 
velopment and  scholarship,  and  also  in  power  of  expression,  the 
use  of  language,  she  out-ranked  any  other  member  of  her  class. 
What  she  has  achieved  in  overcoming  these  obstacles  of  course 


54 

touched  the  heart  of  the  whole  community.  Now  here  is  an  in- 
stance which  goes  to  prove  that  in  some  cases  at  least  co-educa- 
tion is  not  only  possible  but  practicable.  Wherever  such  an 
instance  occurs  it  seems  to  me,  Mr.  Chairman  and  ladies  and 
gentlemen,  that  the  individual  who  is  capable  of  benefiting  from 
co-education  should  not  be  deprived  of  the  privilege.  It  seems 
to  me  that  earnest  and  benevolent  and  tender  as  are  the  feelings 
of  our  friends  whose  lives  have  been  spent  in  institution  work, 
that  they,  perhaps,  from  the  very  positions  in  which  they  are 
placed,  may  forget  some  things  which  they  ought  to  remember, 
and  this  is  one  of  the  things.  Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  I  have  no 
right  in  this  presence  to  take  up  time.  I  am  not  a  teacher  of 
the  deaf.  I  am,  however,  very  deeply  interested  in  this  subject, 
and  I  feel  myself  under  very  great  obligations  for  the  many 
things  which  have  been  said  in  my  hearing  to-day,  for  the  rea- 
son that  it  has  all  helped  to  clear  my  mind  on  this  subject,  but 
not  to  change  my  convictions,  but  rather  to  strengthen  them. 
I  am  a  friend  of  articulation. 

President  Gallaudet.  Has  it  an  enemy  here  ! 

Mr.  Spencek.  I  think  not.  I  am  also  a  friend  of  day-schools 
for  deaf-mutes,  not  specially  with  reference  to  methods  ;  and  at 
the  next  session  of  the  Legislature  of  Wisconsin  a  bill  will  be 
introduced  providing  for  the  establishment  of  day-schools  as  a 
part  of  the  public-school  system.*  That,  however,  has  no  special 
reference  to  methods.  These  schools,  if  established,  may  be 
conducted  either  with  the  combined  method  or  with  the  oral 
method.  The  bill  has  no  provision  with  reference  to  method, 
but  these  schools  are  to  be  sustained  in  part  at  the  cost  of  the 
State  in  connection  with  the  public  schools  of  hearing  children, 
so  that  there  may  be  free  association  on  the  play-ground  and 
otherwise  between  hearing  children  and  deaf  children.  It  has 
been  the  policy,  I  believe,  of  institution  people  to  favor  not  only 
the  multiplication  of  institutions,  but  their  enlargement,  at  great 
cost  to  the  State  and  inconvenience  to  their  patrons.  This 
policy  has  disregarded  the  sacred  ties  of  home.  It  has  taken 
these  unfortunate  children  from  the  arms  of  their  mothers  and 
transferred  them  to  the  institutions,  where,  I  believe,  they  have 
been  generally  treated  with  all  the  kindness  which  strangers 
confer  on  such  children.  The  spirit  of  these  institutions  is 
humane,  but  I  believe  that  we  are  on  the  eve  of  a  better  era — 
the  introduction  of  a  departure  in  this  direction  as  suggested 
by  Prof.  Bell,  which  is  certainly  worth  trying  under  reasonable 
and  careful  restrictions.  The  bill  which  we  propose  to  intro- 
duce you  will  find  the  form  of  in  the  copy  of  the  pamphlet 
which  has  been  placed  in  your  hands.  I  respectfully  beg  that 
you  will  carefully  look  at  this  bill  and  see  if  in  all  the  States  of 


*  The  bill  referred  to  has  now  become  a  law. 


55 

this  Union  we  may  not  make  provision  for  the  education  of  the 
deaf  to  a  certain  extent  by  such  legislation  as  is  proposed  in 
Wisconsin.  And  this  legislation  in  Wisconsin,  if  it  is  successful, 
will  be,  I  believe,  the  first  radical  departure  in  this  direction. 
We  certainly  hope  you  will  throw  no  obstacles  in  our  way,  and, 
so  far  as  you  are  able  to  do  so,  give  us  an  opportunity  to  try  the 
experiment. 

Dr.  Gillett.  I  would  make  a  brief  statement.  At  the  time 
of  the  completion  of  their  education,  three  of  the  students  who 
lately  graduated  from  the  institution  with  which  I  am  connected 
were  required,  in  the  presence  of  1,200  people,  to  read  orally  their 
graduating  exercises,  and  the  conditions  under  which  those  per- 
sons were  able  to  do  that  were  distinctly  stated  to  the  audience, 
that  they  might  not  be  sent  forth  to  the  world  as  deaf-mutes. 
One  of  them,  the  daughter  of  one  of  our  State  senators,  had  de- 
fective hearing ;  had  always  been  able  to  hear  somewhat,  and  in 
my  conversation  with  her  during  her  entire  stay  in  the  institu- 
tion I  always  talked  to  her  orally  and  always  required  her  to 
speak  to  me  orally.  Another  was  the  case  of  a  young  girl  whom 
an  effort  had  been  made  to  educate  in  the  common  schools  be- 
fore she  had  been  sent  to  us.  She  was  a  person  of  defective 
hearing,  and  that  fact  was  also  announced  to  the  audience. 
Another  was  the  case  of  a  young  girl  who  had  lost  her  hearing  at 
about  six  or  seven  years  of  age,  and  it  was  clearly  and  distinctly 
announced  that  that  person  was  not  sent  forth  as  a  natural 
mute,  but  as  one  who,  through  the  effect  of  sickness,  had  lost 
her  hearing,  but  her  speech  had  beeu  conserved  so  far  that  she 
had  been  able  to  make  herself  understood  to  an  audience  of 
1,200  people.  I  am  most  heartily  and  earnestly  in  sympathy 
with  a  great  deal  that  has  been  said  here  to-day,  and  I  certainly 
am  trying  the  best  I  can  to  give  the  very  best  possible  facilities 
to  my  pupils,  and  I  would  have  no  objection  if  every  one  of 
them  could  go  into  the  common  schools  and  be  educated  there  ; 
I  would  gladly  see  them  go  to-morrow  if  to  their  greater  bene- 
fit. When  the  audiphone  made  its  appearance,  and  it  promised 
to  give  us  a  success,  I  got  an  audiphone  and  dentiphone,  and  if 
there  had  been  any  other  "phones  "  I  would  have  gotten  them, 
and  any  mechanical  appliances  to  aid  in  hearing  I  would  insist 
on  their  using.  I  found  one  young  man  and  one  young  woman 
who  could  use  the  audiphone  with  a  great  deal  of  success,  and  I 
said  to  them,  "  You  should  go  home ;  you  do  not  belong  in  a  deaf 
and  dumb  institution.  You  belong  in  the  common  schools." 
They  have  not  been  back  to  us  since.  I  now  think  of  a  boy  who 
has  alternated  from  time  to  time  between  the  public  school  and 
the  deaf  and  dumb  institution.  I  insist  on  his  parents  sending 
him  to  the  common  school ;  that  he  can  hear  well  enough  if  the 
teachers  will  have  patience  with  him  and  give  him  a  favorable  lo- 
cation in  the  school.  His  mother  brings  him  back,  saying  he 
does  not  get  along  as  well  in  the  common  school,  and  we  thus 
have  changed  him  from  place  to  place,  from  time  to  time. 


56 

In  regard  to  the  question  of  home,  I  think  I  have  as  profound 
a  respect  for  home,  and  love  for  home,  as  has  any  one.  While  it 
is  true  that  I  have  received  from  their  parents  almost  2,000  chil- 
dren, and  while  I  have  witnessed  the  intense  feeling  when  children 
are  separated  from  their  parents,  and  while  all  the  circumstances 
are  calculated  to  make  it  one  of  the  most  touching  scenes  pos- 
sible, yet,  sir,  it  never  ceases  to  be  a  matter  of  sentiment  with 
me,  and  it  has  been  a  matter  of  very  great  gratification  that  in 
almost  every  instance,  after  the  pang  of  separation  has  passed 
by,  that  the  residence  of  these  persons  in  their  institution  home 
was  not  only  gratifying  to  them,  but  gratifying  to  their  parents. 

Another  point :  I  have  in  mind  now  a  very  excellent  mother, 
who,  feeling  that  she  could  not  be  separated  from  her  child, 
moved  to  the  location  of  the  institution  that  she  might  keep  her 
child  at  home  and  send  it  to  school,  and  I  was  very  glad  of  it, 
and  I  wish  all  others  could.  I  would  rather  some  one  else  would 
attend  to  their  little  personal  wants,  and  especially  that  their 
mothers  would.  This  child  had  been  to  school  only  a  little  while 
before  the  request  came,  "  Cannot  you  keep  her  at  the  institu- 
tion, and  let  her  come  home  Friday  evening  and  stay  over  Sun- 
day ?"  And  pretty  soon  she  was  not  only  staying  from  home 
over  Friday,  but  Saturday  often,  and  sometimes  week  after  week, 
and  that  with  the  approbation  and  consent  of  the  parents.  I 
have  had  a  good  many  instances  like  that  running  through  my 
connection  with  this  kind  of  work. 

Those  persons  who  come  to  us  as  deaf-mutes  have  great 
obstacles  in  their  way.  I  will  ask  these  thoughtful  ladies  and 
gentlemen  here  to  notice,  that  for  the  deaf  person  there  is  no 
language  but  gesture.  There  is  no  tone  quality  for  the  deaf 
person,  no  rhythm  for  the  deaf  ear.  There  is  no  inflection,  ris- 
ing or  falling,  for  the  deaf  ear  ;  nothing  of  that  that  pertains  to 
our  ear  so  touchingly  and  so  tenderly,  and  gets  around  the  ten- 
drils of  our  hearts  and  binds  the  heart  of  one  to  the  heart  of 
another  as  nothing  else  does.  The  deaf  person  has  no  language 
but  gesture.  It  may  be  a  manual  gesture ;  it  may  be  a  labial 
gesture  ;  but  where  hearing  is  absent  there  is  no  language 
but  gesture.  The  gesture  one  makes  with  the  hands,  with  the 
person,  or  with  the  finger,  is  intended  to  convey  meaning  or 
thought  or  feeling,  and  so  also  is  the  gesture  (for  it  is  nothing 
more  than  a  gesture)  of  the  lips  to  the  deaf  person ;  the  sound 
being  absent,  it  is  only  a  gesture  still. 

Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  I  ask  that  we  be  charitable  to  these  per- 
sons who  have  this  fearful  disadvantage.  I  sometimes  become 
impatient  with  my  pupils,  and  I  especially  become  tried  with 
those  on  whom  I  have  spent  large  sums  of  public  money,  under 
the  board  of  trustees  of  the  institution.  From  the  time  we 
started  in  this  branch  of  the  work  we  have  laid  out  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars  and  the  life  of  one  of  the  best  and  most  skilful 
teachers  that  God  ever  made,  and  I  may  say  there  are  others 
ready  to  be  laid  on  the  same  altar  if  they  can  do  these  afflicted 


57 

persons  any  good.  But  when  we  have  spent  this  money,  and 
have  sent  them  out  into  the  community,  and  find  that  they  will 
cleave  to  one  another,  withdrawing  themselves  from  general  so- 
ciety, and  that  we  cannot  induce  them  to  attend  lectures,  and  that 
they  are  scarcely  ever  found  sitting  under  the  droppings  of  the 
sanctuary,  I  am  tried  with  these  persons  that  I  find  almost  lay- 
ing on  the  shelf  this  vast  amount  of  labor  and  money  that  we 
have  expended  upon  them.  Persons  that  I  can  understand  quite 
well — to  me  their  voice  is  music — I  love  to  hear  them  talk,  and 
when  I  have  gone  into  the  school-room  of  that  noble  woman 
that  lies  in  a  martyr's  grave  to-day,  and  have  heard  her  children 
speak,  I  have  had  my  heart  touched  as  tenderly  as  when  my  own 
children  climbed  up  on  my  knee  and,  putting  their  arms  around 
my  neck,  whispered  words  of  love  in  my  ear.  I  shall  never  hear 
any  words  more  moving  to  me.  I  wish  our  pupils  would  use 
these  powers  that  are  given  them  at  great  expense  when  they  go 
abroad  into  the  community.  What  is  the  fact  ?  I  hold  in  my 
hand  two  letters  from  a  young  man  on  whom  hundreds  of  dol- 
lars and  days  and  weeks  and  months  of  hard  labor  were  spent 
to  conserve  his  speech.  He  can  talk  quite  well,  yet  he  does  not 
do  it.     What  is  the  reason?     That  is  what  I  want  to  know. 

We  are  here  discussing  a  question  of  sentiment.  I  look  upon 
this  as  a  question  of  sentiment.  I  think  nothing  ought  to  be 
spared  to  do  the  utmost  that  is  possible  for  our  pupils,  but  I 
am  compelled  to  stand  in  the  face  of  a  great  public  to  whom  I 
must  render  an  account  for  all  this  expenditure  of  means  and 
labor,  and  must  show  results  in  practical  life,  so  that  a  practical 
man  will  say  that  the  money  has  not  been  expended  in  vain,  and 
that  it  secures  the  adequate  results.  There  are  questions  of 
political  economy  and  State  and  governmental  administration 
as  well  as  questions  of  sentiment  to  which  we  must  take  heed. 

I  am  glad,  Mr.  Chairman,  for  what  has  been  said  here  to-day. 
I  believe  that  the  work  of  Professor  Bell  has  been  of  great  value 
and  help  to  us,  and  I  think  the  result  of  his  labor  will  still  be  of 
great  value  and  help  to  us.  He  views  this  question  from  one 
point  of  view,  but  we  view  it  from  another.  You  understand 
that  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  in  France,  the  system 
of  instruction  that  we  recognize  as  the  sign  method  of  instruc- 
tion for  deaf-mutes  was  devised  and  inaugurated,  and  almost 
simultaneously  in  Germany  the  method  known  as  articulation 
was  adopted,  and  you  perfectly  well  understand  that  there  are 
no  people  in  the  world  that  love  each  other  as  well  as  the  French 
and  Germans  do(!)  Now,  I  think  we  can  see  very  clearly  that 
unintentionally  the  national  feeling  and  the  national  pride  of 
the  advocates  and  the  founders  of  these  methods  of  instruc- 
tion were  carried  into  these  methods,  that  ought  to  know  noth- 
ing but  love  and  self-sacrifice,  in  order  to  perform  this,  one  of 
the  best  works  ever  performed  by  man  or  by  divinity. 

It  touches  me  whenever  I  take  up  the  sacred  volume  and 
read  that  the  only  time  that  the  Saviour  of  the  world  groaned 


58 

was  when  he  led  the  deaf  man  aside.  The  work  that  He  was 
about  to  perform  on  that  man  was  one  grander  than  any  ever 
done  before,  even  by  the  Saviour.  He  led  him  away  from  the 
gaping  crowd,  and  he  lifted  up  His  voice  and  groaned.  There 
was  the  miracle  of  the  man  that  was  born  blind,  who  when  he 
was  restored  to  sight  said  he  saw  men  as  trees  walking.  When 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  touched  the  eyes  of  that  man,  he  never 
had  seen  a  man  or  a  tree  ;  but  when  He  the  second  time  touched 
him  He  imparted  to  him  all  the  benefits  of  education.  So  when 
He  imparted  to  this  man  that  was  deaf  and  dumb,  and  who  had 
never  heard  the  tones  of  his  mother's  voice,  power  to  hear,  He 
gave  him  the  power  to  speak  plainly,  and  he  was  immediately  a 
scholar.  If  every  one  of  us  could  be  such  transformers  as  that, 
and  get  further  down  into  the  hearts  of  our  pupils,  it  would  be 
better  for  all  of  us. 

Mr.  Page,  principal  of  D wight  School,  Boston,  Mass.  I  look 
upon  this  subject  simply  from  the  stand-point  of  the  public- 
school  teacher.  I  came  in  to  hear  what  might  be  said.  If  the 
deaf-mutes  are  to  be  introduced  into  the  public  schools,  I  would 
like  to  know  how  it  could  be  done.  I  think  it  is  Herbert  Spencer 
who  says  that  human  opinion  goes  through  three  phases  in  every 
reform :  First,  the  unanimity  of  ignorance  ;  second,  the  differ- 
ences of  the  inquiring  ;  third,  the  unanimity  of  the  wise.  We 
seem  to  be  in  the  second  stage  pretty  decidedly  this  afternoon, 
but  I  sincerely  hope  that  it  will  be  the  father  of  the  third.  I 
have  been  present  when  discussions  were  going  on  quite  as  lively 
and  quite  as  intense  with  regard  to  the  subject  of  sewing  in  the 
public  schools.  Sewing  is  in  the  public  schools  to-day.  No- 
body thinks  of  taking  it  away.  I  have  been  present  also  when 
the  subject  of  industrial  education  was  discussed  with  quite  as 
much  earnestness  as  has  been  shown  this  afternoon.  Industrial 
work  is  in  the  schools  to-day,  in  many  of  them,  mainly  in  the 
great  centres  of  education  in  this  country.  Therefore  I  say,  as 
a  public-school  teacher,  after  listening  to  these  honest  and  manly 
and  broad  and  wise  statements,  I  am  not  afraid  to  see  this  ex- 
periment tried  in  the  public  schools,  [applause,]  only  let  the 
experts  have  a  hand  in  the  matter,  and  let  the  whole  thing  be 
nursed  into  its  place  carefully  and  judiciously  and  spread  over 
time  enough. 

Dr.  Bell.  Mr.  Chairman  and  ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  do  not 
wish  to  occupy  much  of  the  time  of  the  convention  at  this  late 
hour,  but  I  would  like  to  make  a  few  remarks  on  what  has  been 
said  to  us.  We  are  all  anxious  to  give  speech  to  the  deaf.  There 
is  no  difference  of  opinion  among  us  on  that  point.  And  yet,  as 
Dr.  Gillett  has  said,  there  are  pupils  who  can  speak,  who  have 
been  taught  to  speak,  and  who  speak  well,  who  yet  make  no  use 
of  that  speech.     And  Dr.  Gillett  asks,  Why  ?     Yes,  why  is  it  ? 

A  deaf-mute  who  can  speak  has  no  use  for  that  speech  in  an 


59 

institution  for  the  deaf  and  dumb.  The  other  pupils  are  deaf ; 
they  cannot  hear  what  he  says,  and  they  communicate  by  the 
language  of  signs,  and  the  teachers  are  deaf — one-third  of  the 
teachers  of  the  United  States  in  our  institutions  for  the  deaf 
and  dumb  are  deaf — so  that  if  the  pupil  were  to  speak,  in  the 
class  in  which  he  is  placed,  in  very  many  cases  his  teacher  could 
not  hear  him.  I  know,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  of  children  who  be- 
came deaf  after  the  age  of  12  years,  who  can  talk  as  well  as  you 
or  I,  who  are  in  institutions  to-day  under  a  deaf  teacher.  Can  it 
be  expected  that  those  children  should  use  their  speech  ?  Let 
us  place  them  among  children  who  can  hear.  Let  us  associate 
them  in  every  way  with  children  who  can  hear,  then  their  speech 
will  be  of  use. 

Dr.  Gillett.  How  about  those  graduates  from  institutions  for 
the  deaf  where  signs  are  not  used  ? 

Dr.  Bell.  I  agree  with  what  has  been  said  that  where  deaf- 
mutes  are  gathered  together  signs  will  be  used,  but  I  would  not 
gather  them  together.  Bring  them  together  in  as  small  num- 
bers as  practicable  and  only  for  the  purpose  of  instruction.  In 
the  school-room  you  can  abolish  the  use  of  the  sign-language, 
and  after  school  hours  you  can,  by  scattering  the  deaf  pupils 
among  hearing  children  and  hearing  friends,  prevent  the  devel- 
opment of  a  special  language. 

I  have  been  touched,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  with  the  remarks 
of  my  friend,  Dr.  Thomas  Gallaudet.  The  name  of  Gallaudet 
is  one  that  must  be  dear  to  every  deaf-mute  in  the  country  and 
to  every  friend  of  the  deaf,  and  I  am  sorry  to  be  obliged  to 
differ  from  the  two  brothers  who  are  with  us  to-day.  I  ad- 
mire the  language  of  signs  as  heartily  as  any  teacher  can  de- 
sire. I  have  advocated  the  study  of  this  language  by  men  of 
science.  In  a  paper  read  before  the  Anthropological  Society  of 
London,  I  advocated  the  study  of  this  language  as  a  means  of 
throwing  light  on  the  origin  and  progress  of  all  languages.  It 
is  a  beautiful  language.  It  is  a  language  specially  designed  for 
the  communication  of  deaf-mutes  with  deaf-mutes.  It  does  not 
facilitate  their  communication  with  the  world  at  large.  I  appeal 
to  all  those  here  who  are  unfamiliar  with  this  sign-language  : 
we  have  had  it  before  our  eyes  all  the  afternoon,  and  who  has 
understood  it  7  It  is  not  a  natural  language  like  the  language 
of  gesture  and  the  language  of  expression.  I  would  not  take 
from  the  deaf  child  the  language  of  gesture  or  expression.  Ges- 
tures may  be  used,  like  the  tones  of  the  voice,  to  give  expres- 
siveness to  language.  The  misuse  of  gesture  is  to  take  the  place 
of  language.  I  have  nothing  to  say  against  the  sign-language 
by  itself,  but  it  takes  the  place  in  the  mind  of  the  deaf-mute  that 
the  English  language  should  take.  The  English  expression  is 
not  directly  connected  with  the  idea. 

Then  the  great  fact  to  which  I  would  direct  your  attention  is 
that  the  deaf-mutes  do  not  learn  to  read  and  write  correctly. 


60 

This  great  difficulty,  to  my  mind,  again,  is  due  to  the  use  of 
that  sign-language :  and,  gentlemen,  I  am  not  alone  in  that  be- 
lief. I  will  read  what  my  friend  Dr.  Edward  M.  Gallaudet  has 
said  on  a  former  occasion  on  this  subject,  at  a  convention  of  the 
American  instructors  of  the  deaf  and  dumb,  held  at  Indianapolis, 
at  which  most  of  the  superintendents  and  most  of  the  teachers 
of  the  deaf  here  to-day  were  present.  At  that  meeting  Dr.  Gal- 
laudet spoke  as  follows : 

"  I  have  listened  to  the  paper  which  has  been  read  this  afternoon,  as  I 
listened  to  the  paper  read  this  morning,  with  a  very  great  interest.  I 
have  followed  the  discussion  as  closely  as  I  might  with  no  less  interest ; 
and  I  see,  running  through  it  all,  the  fact,  which  I  am  very  glad  to  have 
acknowledged  here  so  plainly  in  this  Convention,  and  which  we  have  all 
to  look  in  the  face,  that  the  deaf  and  dumb  as  a  class  do  not  master  the 
English  language.  I  take  it  that  this  is  the  confession  of  the  discussion 
and  of  the  article — that  the  deaf  and  dumb  in  our  institutions  as  a  class 
do  not  master  the  English  language.  I  consider  this  a  very  serious  con- 
fession. I  do  not  know  that  I  can  say  when  I  first  became  aware  of  this 
great  fact,  though  I  can  look  back  to  a  time  when  I  was  not  aware  of  it, 
in  my  experience  as  a  teacher  of  the  deaf  and  dumb.  But  it  is  a  fact  of 
which  I  am  fully  satisfied  ;  and  I  find  it  pretty  well  confessed  here  to-day." 

And  then,  as  to  the  cause  of  this  lack  of  knowledge  of  the 
English  language,  Dr.  Gallaudet  spoke  as  follows,  and  in  what 
he  says  I  fully  agree.  I  would  go  hand-in-hand  with  Dr.  Gal- 
laudet if  these  opinions  were  expressed  by  him  to-day : 

"Now,  what  is  the  object  of  the  instruction  of  the  deaf  and  dumb? 
What  is  the  principal  object  ?  I  will  leave  out  of  view  that  great  end  of 
all  education,  which  is  to  fit  man  for  the  companionship  of  his  Maker, 
which  looks  to  the  world  to  come,  and  far  beyond  that  which  now  is— for 
that  is,  or  ought  to  be,  the  grand,  great  aim  of  all  right  teaching — and  I 
take  it  that  the  end  of  deaf-mute  instruction,  considered  from  an  educa- 
tional point  of  view,  is  to  prepare  the  deaf-mute  to  live  in  a  world  of  hear- 
ing and  speaking  people,  and  sustain  himself.  He  is  to  be  fitted  to  live 
in  such  a  community ;  he  is  to  be  trained,  while  in  school,  so  that  he  may 
be  fitted  to  go  out  among  hearing  and  speaking  people,  and  maintain  him- 
self in  all  the  relations  of  life.  It  is  to  work  out  the  grand  problem  of  a 
human  life.  What  does  he  want  first?  What  is  the  most  important 
thing— the  thing  we  use  day  by  day  in  pressing  our  interests  in  the  face 
of  our  fellow-men  ?  What  could  we  do  without  a  more  or  less  perfect 
mastery  of  the  language  of  communication  with  them  ?  The  answer  is 
patent.  So  the  deaf-mute,  when  sent  out  to  solve  the  problem  of  his 
human  life,  is  to  be  furnished  with  those  means  that  will  enable  him  to 
sustain  himself  and  his  own  interests.  In  educating  him  we  are  giving 
him  as  far  as  we  may  certain  things  to  enable  him  to  make  his  way  in  the 
world.  I  do  not  defer  to  any  one  in  my  admiration  of  the  sign-language. 
It  is  known  to  most  of  you  that  it  is  the  language  of  my  mother— I  may 
say  it  is  my  mother-tongue.  It  is  a  beautiful  language  ;  I  admire  it.  I 
admire  the  grace  of  it,  the  force  of  it,  the  rhetoric  of  it.  I  admire  many 
things  about  it,  and  regard  it  as  a  beautiful  language  ;  but  I  must  say 
that,  for  deaf  and  dumb  children  in  school  striving  to  master  the  English 
language,  it  is  a  very  dangerous  thing.  That  may  be  regarded  as  a  strange 
utterance  for  me  to  make,  but  I  make  it  advisedly.  And  why  do  I  make 
it  ?  Because  the  main  object  to  be  attained  by  the  school  training  of  a 
deaf-mute  child  is  to  enable  him,  us  far  as  you  may,  to  master  the  English 
language.     That  done,  other  things  follow,  as  a  matter  of  course. 

"Now,  if  one  of  you  has  a  child  whom  you  are  anxious  to  have  learn 
the  French  language,  you  know  that  the  best  means  of  giving  it  to  him  would 


61 

be  to  place  him  or  her  in  a  family  or  in  a  school  where  French  was  com- 
monly spoken.  We  know  that  if  that  child  was  placed  in  a  school  or  in  a 
family  where  nothing  else  was  spoken,  it  would  be  but  a  very  short  time 
until  it  would  learn  to  speak  French,  and  that  it  would  finally  master  the 
French  language.  Then,  if  we  want  the  children  of  our  institutions  for 
the  deaf  and  dumb  to  master  the  English  language,  what  have  we  to  do 
with  the  sign-language  ?  I  answer,  as  little  as  possible.  I  would  not  be 
misunderstood ;  there  are  uses  to  which  the  sign-language  is  put  that  are 
invaluable,  and  while  I  say  that  the  education  of  the  deaf  and  dumb  child 
may  be  conducted  without  the  sign-language,  I  do  not  say  that  it  can  be 
best  done  without  the  aid  of  the  sign-language.  But  I  would  bear  in 
mind  every  hour  of  the  day,  and  every  moment  in  the  hour,  that  the  sign- 
language,  in  a  school  for  the  deaf  and  dumb,  is  a  dangerous  thing.  I  dare 
say  that  my  words,  if  reported,  will  go  abroad  and  be  used  as  being  a  dec- 
laration on  the  side  of  the  Articulationists,  as  they  are  called.  I  therefore 
wish  here  to  disclaim  anything  of  the  kind.  I  do  not  say  by  any  means 
that  the  Articulationists  have  any  better  system  of  instruction  than  can  be 
had  in  connection  with  the  sign-language.  Far  the  contrary.  I  only  say 
it  is  a  dangerous  thing.  The  tendency  of  the  sign-language  is  to  its  over 
use  in  a  school  for  the  deaf  and  dumb.  Its  ease,  the  readiness  with  which 
we  can  read  the  deaf-mute's  mind  by  it — the  '  laziness '  of  it,  as  Mr.  Tal- 
bot expressed  it  to-day — these  features  are  very  apt  to  lead  to  its  over  use. 
It  is  easier  to  give  the  child  the  idea  you  wish  to  convey  by  means  of 
signs  than  to  stop  and  consider  what  is  the  English  phrase  that  is  adapted 
to  the  child's  mind.  It  is  easier  to  give  a  short  explanation  to  a  pupil 
in  the  sign-language  than  to  stop  and  consider,  and  give  a  careful  expla- 
nation in  the  English  language  that  the  child  can  understand.  A  child 
comes  to  us  with  a  paragraph  in  a  book  that  he  does  not  understand  ;  the 
tendency  at  once  is  to  give  that  explanation  in  signs.  The  practice  is  to 
give  the  entire  lesson  in  signs,  having  first  written  the  lesson  on  the  board. 
I  do  not  think  it  is  a  good  practice.  If  the  child  is  answered  by  a  differ- 
ent expression  of  the  same  thought  in  different  language,  so  couched  that 
he  can  understand  it,  in  that  simple  act  an  evil  tendency  has  been  cor- 
rected and  a  good  tendency  has  been  strengthened." 

I  agree  with  every  word  of  this  speech.  If  these  are  to-day 
the  sentiments  of  our  friend  in  the  chair,  there  is  no  difference 
between  us  ;  we  are  at  one.  A  language  can  only  be  acquired 
by  the  use  of  that  language  as  a  means  of  communication.  Lan- 
guage is  acquired  by  repetition  ;  by  the  frequency  of  recurrence 
of  words.  If  you  want  a  deaf  child  to  understand  the  English 
language,  you  must  repeat  the  words,  and  repeat  the  words  to 
his  eye  ;  and  the  duller  the  pupil  is,  the  more  necessary  is  that 
repetition  and  the  more  harmful  is  the  sign-language.  Dr. 
Gallaudet  spoke  of  this  method  of  parrot-like  repetition  as  the 
method  by  which  he  had  acquired  a  knowledge  of  the  German 
language,  and  he  said : 

"  Observe,  now,  the  application  of  this  to  the  case  of  the  deaf  and  dumb. 
I  send  my  deaf-mute  child  to  an  institution  for  the  deaf  and  dumb  ;  I  want 
it  there  to  master  the  English  language.  The  use  of  the  sign-language, 
except  in  those  cases  where  it  is  absolutely  essential  and  best  for  the  at- 
tainment of  the  other,  is  pernicious.  It  hurts,  it  pulls  down,  it  undoes, 
it  brings  forth  groans  and  grunts,  and  expressions  of  dissatisfaction  and 
disappointment  from  teachers.  We  have  then  to  go  to  work  after  all  and 
undo  our  work,  and  try  and  arrive  at  the  desired  result  in  a  different  way." 

The  way  I  propose  to  arrive  at  the  result  is  the  method  I  have 
explained  to  you  to-day.     It  is  not  in  operation  to  any  great  ex- 


62 

tent  in  this  country.  I  have  not  ventured  to  go  outside  of  the 
limits  of  this  country,  and  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  my  friend, 
Prof.  Gordon,  for  the  historical  remarks  he  has  made  bearing 
upon  this  subject.  It  reminds  me  of  the  time  when  I  was  at 
work  on  the  problem  of  the  telephone.  I  wanted  the  telephone 
to  be  taught  to  speak,  and  people  said  it  was  impossible ;  and 
then  when  the  first  imperfect  articulation  of  the  instrument  came 
forth,  "  it  had  been  tried  before  and  was  a  failure."  That  is  the 
position  in  which  we  stand.  We  will  try  this  scheme  now,  and 
it  will  not  be  a  failure.  We  will  restore  the  deaf  child  to  society. 
We  will  teach  our  children  to  think  in  the  English  language. 
[Applause.]  We  shall  teach  our  children  to  use  the  perfect 
mouths  with  which  nature  has  endowed  them.  We  shall  teach 
our  children  to  hear  with  their  eyes.  I  am  sorry  to  have  heard 
the  remarks  which  have  been  made  by  my  friend  in  the  chair,  on 
the  little  value  of  speech-reading  to  the  deaf.  Ladies  and  gen- 
tlemen, my  wife  is  deaf,  and  she  relies  for  every  word  of  com- 
munication between  us  upon  the  motions  of  the  mouth.  I  know 
that  which  I  speak  of.  Speech-reading  is  a  blessing  to  the  deaf. 
There  is  no  other  means  by  which  the  deaf  can  be  brought  so 
nearly  into  companionship  icith  the  hearing.  Let  us  teach  every 
deaf  child  to  speak.  Let  us  teach  every  deaf  child  to  under- 
stand the  speech  of  his  friends  and  fellows.  Let  us  bring  deaf 
children  together  in  as  small  numbers  as  possible  :  in  the  midst 
of  hearing  children  in  as  large  numbers  as  possible.  Prof. 
Gordon  has  told  you,  and  I  believe  it  is  a  fact,  that  the  co-edu- 
cation of  the  deaf  with  hearing  children  has  usually  proved  a 
failure.  It  is  also  a  fact  that  the  separation  of  the  deaf  from 
hearing  children  has  also  proved  a  failure.  I  would  take  a  me- 
dium course.  I  would  not  educate  the  deaf  with  the  hearing, 
but  in  the  same  building  and  in  close  connection  with  hearing 
children.  They  would  receive  in  their  special  school-room  in- 
struction from  a  special  teacher.  They  would  not  be  taught  by 
a  teacher  of  the  public  school.  That  fact  should  be  clearly 
borne  in  mind  in  distinguishing  the  present  from  the  past.  The 
intercourse  of  deaf  children  with  hearing  children  must  pro- 
mote the  cultivation  of  speech,  and  speech-reading  must  pro- 
mote the  cultivation  of  the  English  language. 

Mr.  Williams,  principal  of  the  American  Asylum  for  Deaf- 
Mutes,  Hartford,  Conn.  The  hour  is  very  late,  but  I  wTish  to 
claim  just  a  few  minutes,  and  I  want  to  say  in  the  first  place 
that  the  experiment  that  has  been  tried  of  keeping  the  deaf, 
who  have  been  taught  articulation,  separate  from  other  children, 
has  proved  a  failure.  It  has  been  said  here  this  afternoon  that 
children  who  are  educated  in  the  German  schools  where  signs 
are  excluded  after  they  leave  the  schools  will  come  together. 
They  are  sent  out  among  their  friends  ;  they  are  told  to  asso- 
ciate with  hearing  people  and  keep  away  from  mutes,  but  they 
will  come  together. 


63 

Dr.  Bell.  I  understand  from  Prof.  Gordon's  paper  that  these 
children  live  among  themselves  in  the  institution.  They  do  not 
associate  during  their  school  course  with  hearing  children. 

Mr.  Williams.  Take  the  pupils  that  go  out  from  our  articula- 
tion schools  in  the  city  of  Boston.  They  are  taught  to  hate  signs 
to  the  very  greatest  extent,  and  so  they  are  in  other  schools  that 
I  know  of.  They  are  warned  against  mingling  with  deaf-mutes. 
Yet  they  do  mingle  with  deaf-mutes.  They  marry  deaf-mutes. 
The  proportion  of  those  educated  by  the  oral  system  who  marry 
deaf-mutes  will  be  found,  I  think,  to  be  fully  as  great  as  the 
proportion  of  those  educated  by  the  combined  system.  One 
other  thing  I  want  to  refer  to— this  matter  of  language.  It 
has  been  said  that  the  pupils  in  our  institutions  for  deaf-mutes 
do  not  master  the  English  language.  That  is  true  of  a  majority 
of  them.  The  pupils  who  attend  the  schools  where  signs  are 
rigidly  excluded  do  not  master  the  English  language.  Why  ? 
Language  is  acquired  by  practice.  By  no  means  under  the  sun 
is  it  possible  for  a  child  who  is  deaf  to  have  the  same  amount  of 
practice  in  the  use  of  language  that  a  child  with  its  hearing  has. 
A  little  child  with  its  hearing  begins  to  learn  language  before  it 
begins  to  speak,  and  just  as  soon  as  it  begins  to  speak  it  hears 
or  uses  language  from  the  time  it  gets  up  in  the  morning  until  it 
goes  to  bed  at  night.  It  has  language  all  day  long,  with  correc- 
tions from  father,  mother,  brothers,  sisters,  and  everybody  else. 
That  thing  is  not  possible  to  a  deaf  child  by  any  system.  I  am 
connected  with  a  school  that  is  very  near  most  of  the  oral  schools 
of  the  country,  and  we  are  brought  into  sharp  competition  with 
them.  Pupils  from  their  schools  come  to  our  school.  I  have 
visited  their  schools  again  and  again.  They  have  visited  our 
schools.  We  have  official  visitors  who  go  to  their  schools  and 
come  directly  from  their  school  to  ours.  Many  unofficial  visitors 
do  the  same.  These  are  all  observers,  many  of  them  entirely 
disinterested  observers.  What  do  we  find  the  result !  I  have 
had  people  say  to  me  again  and  again,  "  The  results  that  you 
obtain  in  language  are  far  better  than  those  obtained  in  the  oral 
schools."  They  have  said  to  me  again  and  again,  "The  articu- 
lation that  you  obtain  is  as  good  as  the  articulation  that  is  ob- 
tained there  under  like  conditions."  They  have  said  again  and 
again,  "You  have  as  good  lip-readers  as  they  have."  I  have 
had  that  from  official  visitors,  from  casual  visitors,  and  I  have 
had  it  from  teachers  from  oral  schools,  who  have  had  a  chance 
to  know  thoroughly  what  is  done  in  those  oral  schools.  I  have 
in  my  hand  the  last  report  of  the  institution  in  which  the  work 
of  these  children  is  brought  into  comparison.  I  am  willing  to 
submit  it  to  any  fair  committee  that  will  make  a  fair  test  be- 
tween their  children  and  our  children,  with  those  that  have  been 
in  the  school  the  same  length  of  time,  that  ours  show  a  better 
knowledge  of  the  English  language  than  theirs  do — that  is, 
those  that  are  in  like  condition.     We  must  bear  in  mind  that 


64 

we  have  different  classes  of  pupils.  There  are  in  both  kinds  of 
schools  semi-mutes,  who  did  not  lose  their  hearing  until  they 
were  5,  6,  7,  or  8  years  of  age  ;  they  learned  the  language  before 
they  lost  their  hearing.  These  are  exceptional  cases,  and  it  is 
the  exceptional  cases  where  they  are  excellent  articulators  and 
excellent  lip-readers.  I  have  in  my  mind  at  this  moment  a  girl 
who  lost  her  hearing  at  5  or  6  years  of  age  and  has  been  stone- 
deaf  ever  since.  All  the  instruction  she  has  received  since,  she 
has  received  through  the  combined  system.  That  girl  talks 
almost  as  well  as  I  do,  and  she  reads  the  lips  very  well  indeed. 
I  received  a  letter  from  her  a  month  or  six  weeks  ago.  I  had 
written  to  her  to  ask  how  she  communicated  with  other  people, 
and  she  wrote  to  me  that  now  she  communicates  orally  with  her 
friends  and  with  the  girls  in  the  shop  who  work  with  her ;  that 
when  she  goes  to  a  store  she  makes  her  communication  orally. 
She  reads  the  lips  very  well  indeed,  sometimes  requiring  a  repe- 
tition. She  said  she  does  not  use  the  sign-language  or  manual 
alphabet  at  all.  That  is  an  exceptional  case.  There  are  excep- 
tional cases  from  the  oral  schools.  In  considering  them  we 
must  bear  in  mind  that  they  are  the  exceptions  ;  they  are  not 
the  rule,  and  in  those  exceptional  cases,  where  they  can  get  artic- 
ulation and  lip-reading,  they  can  carry  on  their  education  suc- 
cessfully. But  what  we  claim  is  that  a  very  large  percentage  of 
those  that  are  in  both  schools  find  it  impossible  to  get  enough 
of  articulation  and  of  lip-reading  to  carry  on  their  development 
as  it  should  be  carried  on.  We  have  been  able  to  take  those 
with  whom  the  articulationists  have  failed  and  make  good  schol- 
ars of  them.  I  had  a  boy  in  my  class  who  was  sent  to  an  artic- 
ulating school  and  pronounced  an  idiot,  and  his  father  was  re- 
quested to  take  him  away  and  send  him  to  the  school  for  idiots. 
He  was  not  satisfied  with  that,  and  brought  him  to  us,  and  the 
boy  was  taken  through  the  course  and  graduated  from  our  first' 
class  with  credit.  That  boy  is  a  good,  industrious  boy,  who  finds 
no  difficulty  in  making  his  way  anywhere  and  doing  business 
with  anybody. 

Mr.  J.  W.  Swiler,  principal  of  the  Wisconsin  Institution  for 
the  Deaf  and  Dumb.  As  representing  the  deaf  and  dumb  in 
the  State  of  Wisconsin,  I  want  to  say  that  here  in  this  State  we 
claim  the  light  that  comes  from  this  experience  and  that  expe- 
rience and  from  all  the  brilliant  lights  that  we  have  had  here 
to-day,  and  are  prepared  to  adopt  and  carry  on  any  method  that 
proves  by  the  test  of  experience  that  it  is  the  most  available 
and  the  most  effective  way  of  educating  and  developing  and 
preparing  the  deaf  and  dumb  for  the  active  duties  of  life. 

President  Gallaudet.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  we  are 
never  to  consider  anything  outside  of  its  environment.  The 
speech  that  Prof.  Bell  has  quoted  from  was  delivered  in  1870, 
in  Indianapolis,  when  we  had  under  consideration  very  serious 


65 

defects  that  were  acknowledged  to  exist  in  the  manual  method 
of  instruction,  and  every  method,  of  course,  may  have  defects  in 
it,  and  may  have  teachers  that  carry  it  on  in  a  defective  way. 
There  had  been,  as  was  well  known  at  the  time,  an  abuse  of  the 
sign-language,  a  careless  use  of  it,  and  it  was  that  careless  use 
that  I  was  deprecating,  and  when  I  say  the  sign-language  is  a 
dangerous  language,  I  speak  of  it  as  an  element  of  education 
which  may  be  used  to  advantage,  but  which  may  also  be  abused, 
and  we  may  say  the  same  of  almost  every  good  thing  that  God 
has  given  us  to  use.  I  think  Dr.  Bell  does  not  wish  to  pervert 
any  views  that  I  have  expressed.  What  I  said,  in  1870, 1  would 
say  again  under  similar  circumstances,  and  I  fail  to  perceive 
that  there  is  any  inconsistency  in  what  I  said  on  that  occasion 
and  under  those  circumstances  and  with  those  environments  with 
what  I  have  said  to-day. 

Dr.  Bell.  I  think  that  this  discussion  of  matters  connected 
with  the  deaf  and  dumb  has  been  a  profitable  thing.  Whatever 
difference  of  opinion  there  has  been  among  us,  we  are  all  at  one 
in  the  wish  to  benefit  the  deaf  and  dumb.  I  think  we  ought  to 
meet  together  again,  and  I  would  suggest  that,  if  it  is  the  wish 
of  the  members  of  this  meeting  that  the  Educational  Associa- 
tion should  again  invite  the  teachers  of  the  deaf  to  participate 
in  discussions  of  this  kind,  that  a  motion  to  that  effect  pre- 
sented to  the  Council  would  receive  consideration. 

I  therefore  move  that  the  Council  of  the  National  Educa- 
tional Association  be  solicited  to  extend  an  invitation  to  the 
teachers  of  the  deaf  to  attend  future  conventions  of  the  Asso- 
ciation and  to  form  a  regular  section  of  the  A  ssociation. 

Mr.  Swiler  was  appointed  secretary  of  the  meeting,  and  the 
motion  of  Dr.  Bell  was  then  put  and  carried.  Mr.  Swiler  was 
directed  to  present  the  resolution  to  the  Council  of  the  National 
Educational  Association. 

The  meeting  then  adjourned  sine  die. 


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